LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
RIVERSiDF 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 


"  The  facts  of  a  man's  life  are  of  primary 
concern  only  so  far  as  they  serve  to  explain  his 
works" 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 


BY  HIRAM   ORCUTT,  LL.D. 


With  an  Introduction  by  General  John  Eaton 
Ex-U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education 


Cambridge 

PRINTED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
1898 


ffl 


Copyright,  1898, 
BY  HIRAM  ORCUTT. 


All  rights  reserved 


TO 

STfje  jFt&e  SEfjousanfc 

WHO,   DURING  FORTY  YEARS,   SHARED  WITH   HIM   AS 

THEIR  TEACHER  THE    PLEASURES  AND 

TRIALS  OF  SCHOOL  LIFE, 

THIS    LITTLE    VOLUME 
IS  AFFECTIONATELY   INSCRIBED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


Preface 

THIS  book  is  the  record  of  a  long 
and  eventful  school-life  experience. 
It  treats  not  of  theories,  but  of  facts.  It  is 
an  autobiography,  and,  as  its  title  indicates, 
records  not  only  the  author's  experience 
as  a  practical  teacher  in  the  public  school, 
academy,  and  seminary,  but  also  as  a  pupil 
and  student,  all  covering  a  period  of  three- 
quarters  of  a  century.  The  leading  purpose 
of  the  work  is  to  furnish  teachers,  school 
officers,  parents,  and  citizens  who  have  an 
interest  in  our  private  and  public  schools, 
object  lessons  illustrating  the  principles 
and  methods  which  the  author  advocated 
in  public  address,  and  in  his  earlier  books, 
and  adopted  in  his  school  management  and 
discipline. 

The  reminiscences  include  the  incidents 
and   anecdotes    which    interested    him    all 
vii 


Preface 

along  the  way  in  his  boyhood  and  in  active 
life.  They  trace  the  trials  and  struggles 
of  the  poor  young  man  in  his  efforts  to 
gain  a  liberal  education.  They  take  note 
of  the  changes  which  the  process  of  evolu- 
tion has  wrought  in  the  educational  history 
of  the  country,  comparing  the  old  institu- 
tions with  the  new.  The  author  comments 
upon  the  condition  of  these  institutions  and 
upon  their  relations  to  each  other,  and  illus- 
trates his  method  of  dealing  with  patrons 
and  in  conducting  the  different  schools  over 
which  he  presided.  He  discusses  the  ele- 
ments of  success  in  school  life,  and  esti- 
mates the  profit  and  loss  of  the  poor  boy's 
struggles  to  secure  an  education.  His  ex- 
perience as  preceptor  of  large  academies  and 
seminaries  was  unique.  No  one  of  the 
four  institutions  under  his  charge  had  any 
other  means  of  support  than  the  receipts 
derived  from  a  low  rate  of  tuition,  and  he 
was  never  employed  on  a  salary  during  the 
thirty-eight  years  of  his  academic  life. 
These  institutions  gave  opportunity  for 
experience  in  managing  both  mixed  and 
viii 


Preface 

separate  schools,  and  enabled  him  to  test 
the  merits  of  each  system.  Hence,  upon 
this  subject  and  upon  the  higher  education 
of  women  he  has  expressed  positive  con- 
victions. 

In  connection  with  his  treatment  of 
school  life  as  student  and  teacher  he  has 
discussed  the  elements  of  success,  and  given 
hints  and  suggestions  for  the  guidance  of 
the  inexperienced.  In  the  chapter  on  other 
educational  work  he  has  dwelt  upon  the 
teacher's  relations  and  obligations  to  the 
community  in  which  he  lives,  and  the  cause 
in  which  all  have  a  common  interest.  He 
speaks  of  the  importance  of  journalism, 
educational  and  professional  books,  and 
teachers'  bureaus  as  aids  to  educational 
workers,  and  of  the  part  he  has  acted  in 
these  relations. 

It  has  been  the  endeavor  of  the  author 
throughout  these  pages  to  emphasize  the 
fact  that  the  real  end  of  all  education  is 
to  produce  morally  trained  men  and  women, 
rather  than,  except  in  special  cases,  scholars. 
Unless  this  point  is  kept  in  mind  by  the 
ix 


Preface 

teacher  throughout  his  school-life  experi- 
ence, the  professional  element  of  his  chosen 
vocation  fails  utterly  of  its  chief  end,  and 
the  pedagogue  places  himself  in  the  same 
class  as  the  mechanic,  producing  things  in- 
stead of  creating  characters. 

The  author  trusts  that  this  humble  ef- 
fort to  contribute  to  the  progress  of  the 
great  cause  vital  to  the  perpetuity  of  our 
free  institutions  and  the  welfare  of  our  race, 
to  which  he  early  consecrated  his  life,  may 
serve  to  interest  and  encourage  others  who 
may  have  taken  up  this  important  work. 

HIRAM  ORCUTT. 
April  %t  1898. 


Contents 


PAGB 

INTRODUCTION i 

I 
THE  OLD  DISTRICT  SCHOOL 13 

II 
THE  OLD  ACADEMY 25 

III 
COLLEGE  LIFE 31 

College  Anecdotes.  —  Incidents  of  College  Life. — 
My  Own  College  Class. 

IV 

THE  STUDENT  BECOMES  A  SCHOOLMASTER 48 

Hard  Cases  in  Discipline.  —  Later  Experiences.  — 
The  Profit  and  Loss  Estimated. 

V 

THE  SCHOOLMASTER  BECOMES  A  PRECEPTOR  ....      83 

Thetford  Academy. —  Thetford  Academy's  Seventy- 
Fifth  Anniversary.  —  Incidental  Occurrences. —  North 
Granville  Ladies'  Seminary. —  Glenwood  Ladies'  Semi- 
nary.—  Tilden  Ladies'  Seminary.  —  Commencement 
and  Dedication. 

VI 
VITAL  EDUCATIONAL  QUESTIONS 147 

Elements  of  Success  in  School  Life.  —  The  Col- 
lege or  the  University,  —  Which?  —  Preparation  for 
College  and  Life :  The  Duty  of  the  Home,  The  Duty 
of  the  Preparatory  School.  —  The  Moral  Side  of 
School  Life. 

VII 
OTHER  EDUCATIONAL  WORK ....    186 


Introduction 


INVITED  to  write  here  a  word  of 
introduction,  my  belief  in  the  large 
obligations  of  the  child  to  the  parent,  and 
of  the  pupil  to  the  teacher,  prompts  me  to 
respond  with  alacrity,  —  an  alacrity  all  the 
greater  because  I  am  not  expected  to  as- 
sent in  all  things  to  what  the  author  has 
put  down,  any  more  than  I  was  required 
when  his  pupil  to  accept  blindly  his  dicta 
as  my  master;  for  he  always  expected 
differences  of  opinion,  and  only  demanded 
robust  thinking  responsive  to  the  leadings 
of  truth.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  come 
under  his  influence  when  I  began  to  have 
aspiration  for  opportunities  to  study.  The 
way  was  dark  and  the  obstacles  seemed  in- 
surmountable :  he  had  some  two  hundred 
and  fifty  young  men  and  women  under 
his  instruction.  No  endowment  either 


Introduction 


INVITED  to  write  here  a  word  of 
introduction,  my  belief  in  the  large 
obligations  of  the  child  to  the  parent,  and 
of  the  pupil  to  the  teacher,  prompts  me  to 
respond  with  alacrity,  —  an  alacrity  all  the 
greater  because  I  am  not  expected  to  as- 
sent in  all  things  to  what  the  author  has 
put  down,  any  more  than  I  was  required 
when  his  pupil  to  accept  blindly  his  dicta 
as  my  master;  for  he  always  expected 
differences  of  opinion,  and  only  demanded 
robust  thinking  responsive  to  the  leadings 
of  truth.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  come 
under  his  influence  when  I  began  to  have 
aspiration  for  opportunities  to  study.  The 
way  was  dark  and  the  obstacles  seemed  in- 
surmountable :  he  had  some  two  hundred 
and  fifty  young  men  and  women  under 
his  instruction.  No  endowment  either 


Introduction 

paid  teachers  or  aided  students.  His  man- 
agement was  the  sole  resource.  When 
considering  it  I  have  always  marvelled; 
but  he  had  the  time  and  thought  for  me 
as  he  had  for  each  of  all  the  others. 
My  way  opened;  I  was  inspired  with 
new  hope  through  him,  and  further  en- 
couraged by  his  students  with  whom  I 
associated  and  on  whom  his  influence  took 
effect.  New  purposes  possessed  me  ;  ob- 
stacles were  transformed  into  aids  ;  another 
life  opened  before  me.  Can  I  ever  repay 
him? 

He  has  seen  fit  at  the  age  of  fourscore 
and  more  years  to  set  down  so  much  of 
his  experiences  and  of  the  opinions  which 
he  has  formed  on  important  subjects.  We 
are  greatly  lacking  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
personal  experiences  of  teachers.  As  our 
views  of  history,  in  general,  are  greatly 
helped  by  the  biography  of  those  who 
were  its  actors,  so  our  best  ideas  of  the 
special  history  of  education  must  be  gained 
by  the  study  of  the  lives  of  educators. 
The  upward  steps  in  its  philosophy  will 
be  best  disclosed  through  their  experi- 


Introduction 

ences  and  views.  The  literature  of  edu- 
cation is  multiplying  with  rapidity,  and 
the  profession  of  teaching  needs  some 
one  to  do  for  it  what  Dr.  Sprague  did 
for  the  ministry.  Nay,  all  other  pur- 
suits would  be  benefited  by  such  a  service ; 
for  all,  whatever  careers  they  pursue  in 
life,  come  under  the  forming  hand  of  the 
teacher. 

A  legend  has  it  that  "  When  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem  was  completed,  King  Solomon 
gave  a  feast  to  the  artificers  employed  in 
its  construction.  On  unveiling  the  throne, 
it  was  found  that  a  smith  had  usurped  the 
seat  of  honor  on  the  right  of  the  king's 
place,  not  yet  awarded ;  whereupon  the 
people  murmured  and  the  guard  rushed 
to  cut  him  down.  *  Hold,  let  him  speak,' 
commanded  Solomon.  c  Thou  hast,  O 
King,  invited  all  craftsmen  but  me,  yet 
how  could  these  builders  have  raised  the 
temple  without  the  tools  I  fashioned  ? ' 
4  True,'  decreed  Solomon,  f  the  seat  is  his 
by  right.' '  Art  has  seized  and  preserved 
the  idea  representing  the  blacksmith  in 
the  seat  of  honor  on  the  right  of  the 
3 


Introduction 

throne.  Teaching  is  no  longer  classed  as 
menial  service.  The  advance  in  man's 
progress  is  coming  to  give  the  seat  of 
honor  to  the  teacher  who  shapes  the 
characters  for  all  worthy  pursuits,  —  who 
fits  all  instruments  for  the  upbuilding  of 
the  temple  of  human  affairs  ;  thus  teaching 
is  coming  into  its  true  relation  to  all  other 
pursuits.  This  book  leaves  no  doubt  that 
Dr.  Orcutt  has,  in  his  day,  greatly  aided  in 
improving  the  work  of  the  teacher  and 
in  securing  his  recognition  by  his  fellows. 
Generally,  men  divide  themselves  into  two 
classes,  —  those  who  do  and  those  who  say. 
He  has  both  acted  and  spoken  ;  as  teacher 
he  has  taught  the  pupil  in  his  daily  class- 
work  ;  he  has  made  a  career ;  he  has  built 
up  institutions ;  he  has  also  spoken  from 
the  platform  and  the  pulpit ;  written  much 
for  the  press ;  and  as  the  author  of  books 
he  has  been  widely  read,  thus  greatly  ex- 
tending his  influence.  His  inheritance  did 
not  do  this;  he  started  with  none  of  the 
aids  of  wealth,  station,  or  money  of  which 
so  much  is  made  and  upon  which  so  many 
depend.  His  greatest  inheritance  was  a 
4 


Introduction 

nature  strong  and  healthy,  both  mentally 
and  physically.  He  was  born  on  a  farm, 
and  his  childhood  and  youth  were  occupied 
in  tilling  the  soil,  in  the  rock-ribbed  town 
of  Acworth,  New  Hampshire ;  "  All  was 
industry  from  early  morn  till  dewy  eve ; " 
few  books  were  accessible,  and  there  were 
limited  opportunities  for  cultivating  the 
mind ;  but  he  was  in  the  midst  of  the  cus- 
toms, scenes,  and  dutiful  ideas  common  in 
a  New  England  community  before  those 
transformations  of  its  character  came  which 
have  followed  the  changes  incident  to  the 
introduction  of  the  inventions  of  the  last 
three-quarters  of  our  century.  He  became 
possessed  of  the  idea  of  his  own  improve- 
ment and  of  service  to  his  fellows  and  to  his 
Maker.  It  grew  with  his  growth,  and  has 
extended  through  his  life,  binding  its  acts 
together,  —  a  purpose  which,  taking  hold  on 
the  throne  of  God,  has  carried  him  through 
his  trials  and  assured  his  triumphs.  He 
could  not  have  had  any  degree  of  advanced 
education  save  as  he  paid  for  it  out  of  his 
own  earnings ;  his  course  had  to  be  a  division 
between  existing  and  improving  himself; 
5 


Introduction 

thus  only  could  he  fit  for  college  and 
avail  himself  of  collegiate  training ;  he 
might  lament  that  he  could  give  no  more 
time  to  study;  it  was  a  constant  struggle 
to  answer  the  question — How  little  time 
can  I  devote  to  existence  and  how  much 
to  improving  myself?  This  story  gives 
the  result.  He  learned  to  discriminate 
between  the  essential  and  the  non-essential, 
to  seize  the  substance  and  let  the  shadow 
take  care  of  itself,  to  economize  time  and 
power,  and  to  make  the  best  of  all  things. 
His  career  has  been  onward,  and  illustrates 
the  possibilities  of  American  opportunity, 
of  New  England  opportunity.  His  great 
labors  as  teacher  were,  like  those  of  his 
student  life,  unaided  by  the  usual  funds. 
He  made  his  schools;  his  efficiency  was 
their  endowment;  his  beneficence  and  not 
the  gifts  of  others  furnished  the  money 
to  supplement  the  means  of  the  hundreds 
of  students,  men  and  women,  whom  he 
aided. 

I  would  neither  ignore  nor  disparage  the 
conditions  of  education  which  money  may 
furnish  in  the  libraries,  buildings,  and  en- 
6 


Introduction 

dowments  and  other  aids.  It  has  been  my 
pleasure  to  improve  every  opportunity  to 
urge  these  services  upon  those  who  possess 
wealth.  Indeed,  wealth  must  share  in 
giving  the  means,  and  thus  assuring  for 
the  young  of  all  conditions  the  best  culture 
of  all  grades  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest, 
if  its  possessors  would  enjoy  the  prosperity 
and  security  possible  only  in  an  advanced 
order  of  society.  But  with  this  urgency  I 
would  have  the  fact  understood  that  there 
is  something  in  education  which  money 
cannot  furnish.  I  would  not  have  for- 
gotten the  truth  set  forth  in  Garfield's 
argument  in  the  case  of  "Brains  vs.  Brick 
and  Mortar."  I  wish  that  all  might  under- 
stand what  he  meant  when  he  was  ready  to 
put  all  appliances  aside  and  declared  his 
preference  for  a  plank  or  a  plain  table  and 
Mark  Hopkins  as  a  teacher  at  one  end  if 
he  could  be  the  pupil  at  the  other.  In  all 
treatment  of  the  conditions  of  learning  jus- 
tice demands  discrimination.  When  wisely 
urging  permanency,  strength,  great  equip- 
ment and  endowment,  we  must  not  forget 
what  temporary  academies  and  colleges 
7 


Introduction 

under  masters  of  teaching  have  accom- 
plished; nor  what  our  aspiring  Franklins 
and  Lincolns  have  done  without  coming 
within  the  sacred  influence  of  a  college 
curriculum ;  nor  must  we  ignore  the  in- 
fluence of  the  small  college,  as  we  have 
good  reasons  to  remember  —  and  especially 
from  the  fact  that  it  was  not  a  great  in- 
stitution at  the  time  but  a  small  college  — 
Dartmouth  in  its  infancy,  that  trained 
Webster,  the  mightiest  thinker  of  his 
period,  whose  defence  of  the  college  he 
loved  led  to  a  judicial  decree  which  under 
our  National  Constitution  has  been  the 
rock  of  safety  for  all  chartered  institutions 
whether  great  or  small.  The  students' 
aspiration  and  the  teacher's  power  to  awake 
to  better  thought  and  life  are  the  essentials. 
To  inspire  the  pupil  to  his  best  effort  was 
pre-eminently  the  power  of  our  author.  In 
this  light  we  should  contemplate  his  life. 
A  thought  enters  his  boyish  mind  of  im- 
proving himself;  he  struggles  amid  hard- 
ships without  the  aids  upon  which  most 
predicate  success ;  he  works  with  his  hands 
and  toils  as  a  teacher,  to  earn  the  money 
8 


Introduction 

to  pay  the  expenses  of  his  course  of  study. 
He  learns  self-restraint,  and  that  he  can 
live  on  what  others  would  waste;  he  suc- 
ceeds where  others  have  failed ;  he  revives 
old  and  opens  new  seats  of  learning ;  he 
fills  them  with  eager  students,  meeting  all 
demands  for  expenses  without  endow- 
ment and  without  the  usual  bids  for  ex- 
clusively wealthy  patronage ;  indeed,  his 
tuitions  were  so  moderate  that  all,  even  the 
plain  people,  could  pay  them.  His  great 
cares  are  not  made  excuses  for  neglect  of 
other  duties.  As  head  of  the  family  he  is 
the  devoted  husband  and  father,  greatly 
revered  and  tenderly  loved ;  as  citizen  he 
is  alert  and  ready  to  administer  the  respon- 
sibilities demanded  of  him ;  chosen  as  leg- 
islator by  his  townsmen,  as  a  statesman  he 
is  ready  for  the  higher  issues  and  seizes  the 
opportunity  to  found  a  normal  school  for 
the  State;  in  business  affairs  he  is  at  once 
ready  for  large  demands  and  attentive  to 
details ;  in  the  Church  he  is  reverent  and 
active  in  its  duties ;  and  amid  all  he  finds 
time  to  use  his  pen.  To  get  some  measure 
of  his  influence,  mark  the  procession  which 
9 


Introduction 

he  leads !  At  the  front  are  the  hundreds 
trained  by  him  in  the  district  school;  next 
come  the  thousands  in  the  academies 
under  his  management ;  while  these  are 
followed  by  those  who  have  been  otherwise 
directly  influenced  by  his  touch  or  his  pen  ; 
and  following  these  are  the  untold  numbers 
who  have  felt  the  influences  set  in  motion 
by  him  as  they  have  multiplied  themselves 
in  this  and  other  lands  through  those  in- 
spired to  their  worthy  work  under  God  by 
him.  How  many  rise  up  to  call  him 
blessed  !  Have  they  any  doubt  that  his 
is  a  life  worth  living  ?  They  know  how 
he  has  taught  patriotism,  piety,  and  duty 
in  the  smallest  and  largest  affairs.  They 
know  how  he  has  in  his  day  added  to  the 
security  of  the  family,  the  Church,  and  the 
State  those  foundations  divinely  laid,  upon 
which  all  things  depend  that  are  desirable 
in  human  affairs. 

I  am  one  of  those  who  rejoice  in  his 
triumphs  ;  one  of  those  gratified  to  seek 
the  general  acknowledgment  of  the  fitness 
of  the  laurels  which  crown  his  brow  as  he 
passes  down  his  declining  years;  and  I 


10 


Introduction 

pray  that  this  story  may  extend  his  useful- 
ness for  good,  and  that  there  may  be  an 
increase  of  Hiram  Orcutts  for  coming 

generations. 

JOHN    EATON. 

WASHINGTON,   D.   C. 


ii 


Reminiscences 
of  School  Life 

9 

i 

THE   OLD   DISTRICT   SCHOOL 

MORE  than  three-quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury has  elapsed  since  the  writer 
entered  his  first  school,  as  a  pupil ;  yet 
everything  associated  with  that  school  is 
as  fresh  in  memory  as  the  occurrences 
of  yesterday.  The  old  schoolhouse,  the 
teachers,  the  schoolmates,  and  the  incidents 
of  that  period  of  school  life  are  photo- 
graphed in  distinct  outlines  on  memory's 
page. 

That  antiquated  schoolhouse  stood  on 
"Clark  Hill,"  in  the  town  of  Acworth, 
New  Hampshire.  It  was  built  upon  a 
rock,  and  surrounded  by  boulders  which 
the  icebergs  of  another  age  had  scattered 
13 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

there.  The  only  shade-trees  that  adorned 
the  playground  were  those  which  the 
sturdy  woodman  had  spared  in  clearing  the 
forest.  The  building  was  rude  and  simple 
in  its  construction.  It  had  three  small 
windows  on  as  many  sides,  each  of  which 
had  a  heavy  board  shutter  to  keep  out  the 
light  during  vacations,  and  to  conceal  the 
bats  in  term-time.  They  served  both 
purposes  well.  The  bats,  however,  were 
easily  captured  by  the  roguish  boys,  and 
sometimes  made  trouble  for  the  master. 
The  inside  arrangements  of  this  school- 
house  were  unique.  On  one  side  was  a 
large  open  fireplace,  which  with  its  entrance 
door  occupied  the  whole  space.  In  this 
great  heater,  in  the  cold  winter,  not  less 
than  half  a  cord  of  green  wood  was  con- 
sumed each  day,  roasting  half  the  school 
and  leaving  the  other  half  nearly  frozen 
during  the  process.  The  seats  and  benches 
were  made  of  half-planed  hemlock  or 
spruce  boards,  and  were  arranged  on  three 
sides  of  the  house,  in  amphitheatre  style. 
The  back  seats  were  designed  for  the  older 
boys  and  girls,  and  the  front  seats  for  the 
14 


The  Old  District  School 

little  ones  sent  to  school  to  relieve  the 
mothers  of  their  care  at  home.  These 
seats  were  so  wide  that  the  child's  back 
could  not  be  supported,  and  so  high  that 
his  feet  could  not  touch  the  floor.  A 
more  complete  rack  of  torture  and  machine 
for  making  cripples  could  hardly  be  in- 
vented. Yet  these  children  were  kept 
upon  these  hard  benches  all  day  long, 
relieved  only  by  short  recesses,  with  noth- 
ing to  do  but  to  play,  if  they  dared. 

In  one  respect  that  old  schoolhouse  was 
a  model  of  its  kind,  far  superior  to  many 
of  more  modern  construction ;  it  was  well 
'ventilated.  Its  huge  open  fireplace,  spa- 
cious chimney,  loose  windows,  and  half- 
nailed  covering  boards  invited  the  passing 
breeze  and  gave  free  circulation  to  the  pure 
mountain  air.  No  pupil  ever  contracted 
consumption  from  breathing  impure  atmos- 
phere in  that  temple  of  knowledge.  This 
cannot  be  said  of  many  elegantly  con- 
structed and  steam-heated  schoolrooms  of 
modern  times,  if  special  attention  has  not 
been  given  to  scientific  ventilation. 

Another  advantage  enjoyed  by  the  pupils 
'5 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

of  that  ancient  school  on  "  Clark  Hill " 
was  the  exercise  necessary  in  going  and 
coming.  Added  to  the  rough  and  tumble 
of  schoolboy  sports,  and  battles  of  snow- 
balling, some  pupils  lived  two  miles  away, 
making  four  miles'  walk  each  day  over 
rough  or  snow-drifted  roads.  The  dinner- 
basket  was  a  necessity ;  and  even  the  rats 
and  mice  which  had  gained  residence  in 
the  old  schoolhouse  were  dependent  for 
their  living  upon  the  crumbs  that  fell  from 
the  benches,  when  they  failed  to  gain 
access  to  the  full  basket.  Still  we  were 
not  much  annoyed  by  them.  No  one 
thought  to  inquire  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  different  animal  races,  or  whether  the 
bats  which  lived  under  the  blinds  and 
the  quadrupeds  which  scampered  behind  the 
ceiling  were  created  as  such  or  were  born 
of  evolution.  This  old  school  building 
was  the  scene  of  busy  life  during  ten  or 
twelve  weeks  both  summer  and  winter. 
The  remaining  part  of  the  year,  it  was 
deserted  and  desolate. 

The  teachers  employed  in  this  district  — 
a  young  man  in  the  winter  and  a  young 
16 


The  Old  District  School 

woman  in  the  summer  —  deserve  a  passing 
notice.  They  "  kept  school "  one  term 
each,  but  were  seldom  re-elected.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  these  teachers  were  incom- 
petent. They  had  enjoyed  no  opportunity 
for  culture  and  professional  training.  It 
was  not  their  fault.  There  were  no  train- 
ing schools  in  those  days,  no  examinations, 
no  opportunities  nor  inducements  to  gain 
the  necessary  preparation  for  their  impor- 
tant work.  The  parents  of  the  pupils  had 
inherited  the  idea  of  education  for  their 
children,  but  knew  little  or  nothing  of 
its  nature  or  importance.  Economy  was 
the  main  concern  with  them.  Hence  the 
scanty  outfit  for  school  purposes,  and 
the  cheap  teachers.  The  question  as  to  the 
candidate's  qualifications  for  the  teacher's 
office  was  seldom  raised,  but  rather  how 
small  a  compensation  would  be  accepted  for 
the  service  required.  In  fact,  the  school 
was  "struck  off"  to  the  lowest  bidder. 
That  was  not  economy,  but  a  ruinous  waste. 
In  that  school,  and  in  almost  all  other 
country  schools  of  that  day,  there  was  no 
systematic  instruction,  no  class-drill,  little 

2  I7 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

mental  discipline,  and  absolutely  no  practi- 
cal training  for  even  the  common  duties  of 
life.  Incorrect  instruction  led  to  the  for- 
mation of  bad  habits  of  thought  and  study. 
These  had  to  be  corrected  before  any  real 
progress  could  be  made.  The  writer 
received  as  much  real  benefit  from  study 
at  home,  and  more  knowledge  of  English 
composition  from  correspondence  with  a 
playmate  in  vacations,  than  from  all  the 
instruction  he  ever  had  in  the  district 
school.  This  correspondence,  or  written 
discussion  with  a  companion,  here  alluded 
to,  was  a  novelty  of  its  kind.  The  old 
farmhouses  where  our  boyhood  days  were 
spent  were  a  mile  distant  from  each  other. 
We  were  frequently  together,  but  differed 
in  our  opinions  on  some  of  the  current 
topics  of  the  day.  It  was  proposed  that 
we  engage  in  a  written  discussion.  We 
agreed  upon  the  subject  and  the  method  of 
the  contest.  On  the  roadside  half-way 
between  our  houses,  there  was  a  large 
shelving  rock  under  which  we  agreed  to 
locate  our  post-office,  and  deposit  our  let- 
ters in  turn.  Though  we  might  not  see 
18 


The  Old  District  School 

each  other  for  weeks,  the  discussion  went 
on  to  the  finish.  Thus  the  benefit  of 
independent  thinking  and  reasoning  and 
the  power  of  expression  were  gained. 
Could  we  have  had  a  competent  critic  of 
our  forensic  effort,  this  would  have  been  a 
model  exercise  worthy  of  modern  times. 

While  yet  at  home  on  my  father's  farm 
(which  lay  one  half  in  the  town  of  Acworth 
and  the  other  half  in  the  town  of  Unity),  I 
made  my  first  effort  to  write  for  the  press. 
It  was  called  out  under  the  following  cir- 
cumstances. One  Fourth  of  July,  a  large 
number  of  boys  and  young  men  living  in 
Acworth  and  Unity  assembled  in  the  field 
near  the  house,  on  the  Acworth  side,  for  a 
wrestling  match  between  the  two  towns. 
The  struggle  was  at  "  arm's  length,"  each 
victor  meeting  the  man  selected  by  a  com- 
mittee on  the  other  side.  I  threw  my  man 
and  was  thrown  in  turn.  The  contest 
lasted  all  day ;  and  at  night  both  parties 
claimed  the  victory,  and  I  was  appointed 
by  the  Acworth  boys  to  write  a  report  of 
the  contest  in  vindication  of  our  claim,  for 
publication  in  a  local  newspaper. 
19 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

As  I  remember,  I  claimed  that  we  had 
shown  superior  strength  and  skill  in  the 
match,  and  had  in  reserve  a  still  greater 
force  ready  to  meet  the  Unity  boys  on 
some  other  day,  and  closed  with  the  follow- 
ing anecdote,  to  illustrate.  A  timid  boy, 
the  son  of  his  mother,  had  gained  permis- 
sion to  attend  the  annual  military  muster, 
"  armed  and  equipped  as  the  law  directs." 
He  took  his  place  in  the  company,  and 
entered  with  spirit  into  the  drill  exercises 
of  the  day.  He  obeyed  all  orders  of  the 
captain,  until  he  came  to  the  "  sham  fight," 
in  which  each  soldier  was  ordered  to  "  load 
and  fire,"  when  the  word  was  given.  He 
loaded  every  time,  until  he  had  inserted 
twelve  charges,  but  he  had  not  the  courage 
to  fire  !  Hence  he  returned  home  with 
his  gun  loaded  to  the  muzzle.  He  related 
to  his  mother  the  scenes  of  the  day,  and 
reluctantly  exposed  his  cowardice  in  omit- 
ting to  fire  when  ordered.  For  this  the 
mother  rebuked  him,  and  taking  the  gun 
"  fired  it  off,"  to  show  her  own  courage. 
The  result  was,  she  was  prostrated  by  the 
reaction  of  the  overcharged  weapon. 

20 


The  Old  District  School 

Alarmed  and  trembling,  the  boy  cried  out, 
"  Lie  still,  mother,  there  are  eleven  more 
charges  to  come  yet."  Hence  it  would  be 
prudent  for  the  Unity  boys  to  keep  quiet, 
as  there  were  "  eleven "  more  wrestlers 
ready  for  another  contest. 

In  the  Clark  district  school,  as  I  have 
intimated,  the  teaching  of  composition  in 
any  form  was  never  attempted.  Writing 
in  copy-books  was  allowed,  but  not  taught. 
In  reading,  the  pupil  acquired  the  habit  of 
uttering  improper  sounds,  mispronouncing 
words,  and  the  incorrect  expression  of 
sentences.  In  arithmetic,  he  was  required 
only  to  "  do  the  sums,"  without  under- 
standing the  principles  or  reasons.  It  was 
never  suggested  that  a  correct  knowledge 
of  this  or  any  other  branch  of  study  would 
be  of  any  practical  benefit  in  the  business 
of  life.  The  study  of  geography  consisted 
of  committing  to  memory  long  lists  of 
names  and  figures,  to  be  forgotten  before 
the  next  recitation.  Grammar  was,  and 
continued  to  be,  one  of  the  seven  wonders 
of  the  world.  As  a  result,  the  best  gradu- 
ates from  this  school  could  not  have  esti- 

21 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

mated  the  measure  and  value  of  a  pile  of 
wood,  could  not  have  expressed  correctly  a 
simple  sentence,  or  written  a  creditable  let- 
ter to  their  mothers. 

The  influence  of  such  a  school  upon  its 
pupils,  and  upon  the  community,  was  dis- 
astrous. There  was  little  in  the  school  or 
the  home  calculated  to  encourage  or  inspire 
pupils  to  seek  higher  attainments.  The 
condition  of  families  and  the  community 
could  not  make  great  advancement  under 
such  a  system  of  education.  Real  estate 
depreciated,  enterprise  languished,  and  de- 
cay has  marked  the  lapse  of  time,  from 
generation  to  generation,  in  that  neighbor- 
hood. 

This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  district 
schools  of  seventy-five  years  ago.  What  a 
contrast  when  compared  with  the  schools 
of  to-day !  True,  the  reform  has  not  yet 
reached  all  the  rural  sections  of  the  country. 
There  are  still  to  be  found  poor  school- 
houses,  stupid  committee  men,  and  unquali- 
fied teachers,  which  indicates  a  lingering 
indifference  among  the  people  in  some 
localities  ;  but  great  progress  has  been  made, 

22 


The  Old   District  School 

during  these  years,  in  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion. Vast  sums  of  money  are  now  ex- 
pended in  erecting  and  furnishing  elegant 
school  buildings,  in  establishing  normal 
schools  for  the  education  of  teachers,  and  in 
providing  for  the  supervision  of  the  schools 
of  the  city,  town,  and  State,  and  in  establish- 
ing free  libraries,  accessible  to  both  parents 
and  pupils.  The  district  system  has  been 
abolished  and  the  town  system  substituted 
in  most  of  the  States.  The  graded  school 
has  taken  the  place  of  the  ungraded,  and 
an  excellent  system  of  school  management 
and  improved  methods  of  instruction  have 
been  adopted  and  are  being  applied  by  a 
multitude  of  trained  teachers  all  over  the 
country.  Teachers'  associations  have  been 
organized,  and  are  performing  a  valuable 
service  in  every  State  in  the  Union.  The 
American  Institute  of  Instruction,  and  the 
National  Educational  Teachers'  Association, 
numbering  thousands  of  our  ablest  educa- 
tors, hold  their  annual  meetings  and  are  lead- 
ing the  educational  thought  of  the  nation. 

The   National   Bureau  of   Education    at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  under  the  able  manage- 
23 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

ment  of  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris,  successor  to 
General  John  Eaton,  who  for  sixteen  years 
did  excellent  work  in  that  important  posi- 
tion, is  gathering  up  school  statistics  for  the 
encouragement  and  use  of  educators  toiling 
for  still  higher  attainments  in  our  educa- 
tional work.  And  now,  more  than  ever 
before,  our  school  officers  are  reaching  out 
into  the  rural  districts  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  these  neglected  schools  under  bet- 
ter supervision  and  instruction.  The  neces- 
sity of  universal  education  for  the  prosperity 
of  the  nation,  and  the  perpetuity  of  our  free 
institutions,  is  acknowledged  and  felt  to-day 
as  never  before.  The  improvements  made 
in  our  educational  facilities  during  the  nine- 
teenth century  are  great  and  encouraging  to 
our  intelligent  and  patriotic  people.  But 
we  must  not  forget  that  the  old  district 
school  served  its  day  and  generation,  and 
was  an  essential  factor  in  the  process  of  the 
evolution  of  our  educational  system.  And 
may  not  the  educators  of  the  last  quarter  of 
the  twentieth  century  have  occasion  to  find 
as  much  fault  with  our  system  as  we  do 
with  that  of  seventy-five  years  ago? 
24 


II 

THE   OLD   ACADEMY 

THE  old  academy  of  our  boyhood  days 
was  the  hope  of  the  common  school, 
and  the  main  feeder  of  the  college ;  but  it 
was  necessarily  unsystematic,  as  a  result 
of  the  irregularity  of  attendance.  Well- 
arranged  courses  of  study  and  a  graded  sys- 
tem of  instruction  were  impossible.  Most 
of  the  students  came  from  the  farm  and 
the  workshop,  with  no  preparation  except 
such  as  they  could  get  in  the  district  school 
of  that  day,  and  they  were  compelled  to 
work  their  way  unaided.  Hence  they  were 
obliged  to  alternate  terms  of  study  with 
terms  of  labor ;  to  study  in  the  autumn 
and  teach  in  the  winter ;  to  study  in  the 
spring  and  labor  in  the  summer.  As  a 
result,  the  autumn  and  spring  terms  were 
comparatively  large,  and  the  winter  and 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

summer  terms  small.  Thus  proper  classi- 
fication was  impossible. 

Most  of  these  institutions  were  unen- 
dowed and  short-lived,  but  they  were  then 
a  necessity.  They  occupied  a  position  in 
the  educational  system  of  that  day  which 
no  other  school  could  fill,  and  performed 
a  work  which  no  other  could  have  accom- 
plished. 

The  open  door  of  the  old  academy,  its 
economical  arrangements,  and  its  earnest 
and  devoted  teachers  invited  and  encour- 
aged the  young  men  and  women  of  the 
neighborhood  to  come  up  higher.  It 
afforded  them  opportunity  for  real  culture, 
and  directed  young  men  to  the  college  and 
to  the  higher  walks  of  professional  life. 
Through  the  influence  and  inspiration  of 
these  academic  institutions  of  New  Eng- 
land, multitudes  became  better  husbands 
and  wives,  better  farmers,  better  mechanics, 
better  merchants,  better  citizens,  better 
teachers,  and  not  a  few  pressed  their  way 
on  through  a  liberal  course  of  study. 

Though  many  of  these  institutions  have 
done  their  work  and  passed  away,  they 
26 


The  Old  Academy 

should  be  remembered  and  honored  for 
what  they  have  accomplished.  Graded 
schools  have  taken  their  places,  yet  a  few 
still  enjoy  a  spasmodic  life  and  serve  to 
kindle  "backfires"  for  the  more  favored 
and  permanent  academies. 

The  circumstances  of  my  own  life  were 
all  against  gaining  access  to  one  of  these 
academies,  although  I  had  conceived  the 
idea  and  cherished  the  hope  that  I  might 
sometime  be  thus  favored.  Surrounding 
influences  were  discouraging,  and  the  neces- 
sary means  to  pay  current  expenses  were 
wanting.  If  I  took  a  step  in  that  direction, 
my  success  or  failure  would  depend  entirely 
upon  myself.  How  these  obstacles  could 
be  overcome  did  not  appear,  but  the  crisis 
in  my  young  life  had  come,  and  I  must  act. 
I  had  either  to  settle  down  amid  the  influ- 
ences by  which  I  was  surrounded,  or  break 
away  from  the  beaten  path  which  genera- 
tions of  my  ancestors  had  trodden  and 
work  my  way  to  something  higher  and 
better.  I  took  the  risk,  and  in  the  autumn 
of  1 834  entered  Chester  (Vermont)  Acad- 
emy for  a  single  term  of  three  months. 
27 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

During  the  next  four  years,  I  was  strug- 
gling to  overcome  the  difficulties  which  were 
in  the  path  I  had  chosen,  studying  when 
I  could  and  laboring  and  teaching  when 
necessary,  to  earn  money  to  pay  my 
way  at  school.  I  was  able  to  study  only 
about  half  of  each  of  these  years,  and 
always  under  the  most  discouraging  circum- 
stances. These  terms  of  study  were  at 
four  New  England  academies,  viz. :  Chester 
and  Cavendish  (Vermont),  Kimball  Union 
(New  Hampshire),  and  Phillips  Andover 
( Massachusetts.) 

Hallowed  associations  cluster  around 
these  institutions.  I  recall  with  intense  in- 
terest the  scenes  through  which  I  passed, 
the  fellow-students  with  whom  I  mingled, 
and  the  principals  and  assistants  under 
whose  instruction  I  sat.  Some  of  these 
teachers  deserve  more  than  a  passing  notice. 
Dr.  Taylor,  principal  of  Phillips  Andover 
Academy,  was  the  Arnold  of  America.  As 
a  classical  author,  as  a  teacher  and  disciplin- 
arian, he  ranked  among  the  ablest  and  best 
in  the  nation.  Dr.  Richards,  principal  of 
Kimball  Union  Academy,  was  a  scholarly, 
28 


The  Old  Academy 

Christian  gentleman,  a  graduate  from  Dart- 
mouth College,  the  author  of  one  or  two 
classical  text-books,  and  for  many  years  the 
head  master  of  that  old  and  honored  insti- 
tution. As  a  classical  teacher  he  ranked 
high ;  as  a  principal  and  disciplinarian, 
though  not  popular  with  those  who  dis- 
approved of  his  system  and  method  of  gov- 
ernment, he  was  eminently  successful.  Dr. 
A.  A.  Miner,  assistant  teacher  at  Caven- 
dish Academy,  was  then  a  young  man  of 
royal  presence  and  fine  ability,  and,  though 
not  a  college  graduate,  he  had  already  dis- 
tinguished himself  both  as  teacher  and 
preacher.  He  gained  in  power  and  influ- 
ence, as  the  years  rolled  on,  became  presi- 
dent of  Tufts  College,  and  the  acknowledged 
leader  of  the  religious  denomination  to 
which  he  belonged.  Professor  Wood,  assist- 
ant teacher  at  Kimball  Union,  was  a  fine 
scholar — the  author  of  "Wood's  Botany," 
a  text-book  which  was  popular  in  its  day — 
and  an  able  teacher.  He  was  sometimes  a 
little  absent-minded,  as  an  example  or  two 
will  show.  One  day  on  returning  from  a 
walk,  he  came  to  his  own  office  door  and 
29 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

knocked  for  admission,  and  as  no  one  bade 
him  enter,  he  returned  to  the  street,  for- 
getting that  he  had  no  room-mate,  and  that 
he  had  the    key  to  his   door    in  his    own 
pocket.       At   another   time    the   professor 
started  from  his  room,  with  oil-can  in  hand, 
for  the  store.     While  on  the  street,  the  bell 
calling  to  prayers  in  the  chapel  began  to  toll. 
He  turned  and   started  for   the    academy. 
Entering  the  building,  doubtless  with  the 
impression   that  he    had    something  about 
him  that  he    ought  not  to  carry  into  the 
audience   room,  but    not    realizing  exactly 
what  it  was,  he  left  his  hat  in  the  dust-closet, 
and  carried  his  oil-can  into  the  chapel,  and 
placed  it  on  the  stage.    This  ludicrous  scene 
served  to  make  the  exercises  more  cheerful, 
but    probably    not   more    devotional.     All 
these  men  whom  I  have  mentioned  in  this 
connection,  and  other  principals,  with  their 
associates    who    were    my    teachers,     have 
passed  from    earth,   and   but   few  of  their 
students  of  that  day  survive. 


Ill 

COLLEGE   LIFE 

IN  the  autumn  of  1838  I  entered  Dart- 
mouth College  from  Phillips  Andover 
Academy,  and  graduated  with  my  class  in 
1842.  In  these  new  relations  as  a  student, 
new  influences  were  felt,  new  ambitions 
awakened,  and  new  opportunities  and  facil- 
ities were  offered  and  enjoyed. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  academic 
classmates,  all  my  class  and  college  asso- 
ciates were  entire  strangers ;  but  we  soon 
became  acquainted,  and  experience  taught 
us  that,  outside  the  family,  there  is  no  com- 
munity in  which  more  endearing  and  last- 
ing friendships  are  formed  than  in  college. 
There  we  met  as  strangers,  but  by  constant 
mingling  in  the  dormitories,  classroom,  and 
club,  we  soon  came  to  know  and  to  cherish 
an  abiding  interest  in  each  other,  in  our 
31 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

college,  and  in  our  president  and  professors. 
The  mutual  friendships  formed  were  more 
often  among  classmates,  as  our  relations  to 
one  another  were  more  intimate.  We  toiled 
and  played,  enjoyed  and  suffered  together, 
day  after  day  and  term  after  term,  during 
the  four  short  years  of  college  life,  and 
finally  we  stood  together  to  receive  the 
benediction  of  our  president,  and  bade  fare- 
well to  one  another  and  to  the  scenes  with 
which  we  had  become  so  familiar.  We  had 
treasured  up  the  lessons  of  these  busy 
years,  the  pleasant  memories  of  our  hon- 
ored instructors,  and  the  incidents,  songs, 
and  anecdotes  which  interested  us  in  these 
relations. 

Though  nearly  sixty  years  have  passed 
since  I  left  these  consecrated  halls,  and  all 
the  faculty  and  more  than  two-thirds  of  my 
classmates  have  passed  away,  yet  I  see  them 
just  as  they  were,  hear  their  familiar  voices, 
and  live  over  again  those  anxious,  hopeful, 
and  joyful  days.  I  recall  my  faithful  and 
scholarly  instructors  :  Professor  Haddock, 
the  refined  Christian  gentleman  who  taught 
rhetoric  and  corrected  our  graduating  ora- 
32 


College  Life 

tions  ;  Professor  Alpheus  Crosby,  the  unas- 
suming but  distinguished  Greek  scholar  and 
author,  our  teacher  of  that  elegant  language ; 
Professor  Young,  the  father  of  the  famous 
Professor  Young  of  Princeton,  a  philosopher 
and  astronomer  of  marked  ability,  and  a 
practical  teacher  of  great  skill,  —  each  les- 
son under  him  was  normal,  though  normal 
methods  had  not  then  been  taught  in  this 
country  ;  Professor  Sanborn,  the  noble  man, 
our  drill-teacher  in  Latin,  and  the  living 
historical  encyclopaedia  of  the  college,  whose 
Christian  example,  energy,  and  devotion  were 
a  constant  inspiration  to  all  who  came  under 
his  influence ;  Professor  Brown,  a  son  of 
President  Brown  of  the  same  college,  our 
teacher  in  elocution ;  Professor  Chase,  the 
great  mathematician,  who  presided  over  our 
algebraic,  geometrical,  and  trigonometrical 
problems  and  demonstrations,  —  he  was  an 
accurate  scholar  and  an  earnest  teacher, 
although  less  skilled  in  the  management 
of  young  men ;  and  Professor  Hubbard, 
the  chemical  genius  who  revealed  to  us  the 
mysteries  of  acids  and  alkalies,  and  demon- 
strated the  facts  at  every  point  by  unerring 
3  33 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

experiments,  —  after  holding  his  position 
for  many  years  as  chemical  professor  in 
the  college  proper,  he  was  recalled,  year 
after  year,  to  instruct  the  medical  class  ; 
our  tutors,  Messrs.  Peaslee,  Samuel  C.  and 
Joseph  Bartlett,  —  Dr.  Peaslee  became  a 
distinguished  professor  in  the  medical  de- 
partment, and  Dr.  S.  C.  Bartlett  the  presi- 
dent of  the  college  ;  and  finally  President 
Nathan  Lord,  who  presided  over  Dart- 
mouth College  for  many  years  with  great 
ability  and  skill,  and  the  memory  of  whose 
sagacity  and  alertness  in  discipline  survives 
in  many  a  good  story,  which  served  to 
relieve  the  monotony  of  college  life.  A 
few  of  these  anecdotes  will  illustrate  the 
tone  and  spirit  of  college  management  sixty 
years  ago. 

COLLEGE  ANECDOTES 

As  intimated,  Dr.  Lord  was  an  executive 
officer  of  great  ability,  and  he  was  very 
popular  among  the  students.  Though 
severe  in  discipline,  he  was  seldom  obliged 
to  punish  for  malicious  insubordination. 
The  fun-loving  students  sometimes  in- 
34 


College  Life 

dulged  in  conduct  which  required  rebuke, 
for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  the  sport,  and 
to  see  what  the  good  "  Prex "  would  do 
about  it. 

One  morning  a  ram  was  found  in  the 
belfry  of  the  college  chapel,  tied  by  his 
horn  to  the  bell-tongue.  Several  suspected 
parties  were  summoned  to  the  president's 
office  to  answer  the  inquiry,  "  Can  you  tell 
me  how  that  animal  got  up  into  the  college 
belfry  ? "  They  had  all  slept  soundly  in 
their  own  beds  through  that  night,  and  no 
one  knew  anything  about  the  matter,  ex- 
cept Mason,  who  came  in  last.  He  answered 
the  question  promptly,  and  said  he  could 
give  the  desired  information.  "  That  ram," 
he  said,  "  climbed  up  the  lightning-rod ; 
I  saw  his  tracks."  "  That  is  sufficient, 
Mason,"  said  the  president;  "you  are  ex- 
cused." Nothing  more  was  ever  heard  of 
this  case. 

At  another  time,  an  old  lean  horse  that 
had  been  seen  grazing  by  the  wayside  was 
found  stabled  in  the  chapel,  and  when  the 
students  were  coming  out  from  their  break- 
fast, the  animal,  grotesquely  decorated  with 
35 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

a  large  stick  attached  to  his  extremity,  was 
let  loose  and  sent  down  across  the  common 
at  full  speed.  Again,  students  likely  to 
indulge  in  such  irregularities  were  inter- 
viewed by  the  president.  No  information, 
however,  could  be  gleaned,  except  from  one 
who  seemed  to  understand  the  case  and 
to  be  willing  to  tell  all  he  knew  about  it. 
Something  like  the  following  was  his  testi- 
mony :  "  As  I  issued  forth  from  my  dormi- 
tory this  morning,  I  spied  a  quadruped, 
dressed  in  uniform,  with  a  beam  fastened  to 
his  posterior,  coming  out  of  the  chapel,  and 
he  went  down  over  the  campus  as  though 
his  Satanic  Majesty  impelled  him."  "  But 
pause,"  said  the  president ;  "  your  high- 
flown  language  is  beyond  my  comprehen- 
sion. Give  me  a  translation  that  I  can 
understand."  And  the  witness  proceeded 
to  translate  as  follows  :  "As  I  came  out  of 
my  room  this  morning,  I  saw  an  old  horse 
covered  over  with  pictures,  with  a  rail  tied 
to  his  tail,  and  when  let  loose  he  ran  down 
over  the  common  as  though  the  devil  had 
kicked  him  in  end."  "That will  do,"  said 
the  president,  "  you  are  excused." 
36 


College  Life 

A  few  years  later,  one  of  President 
Lord's  faculty  was  familiarly  known  as 
peculiar  by  his  frequent  repetition  of  the 
expression,  "  And  the  converse  is  equally 
true."  One  evening  Quint  (the  late  Dr. 
Quint,  so  well  known  as  a  distinguished 
clergyman  in  Massachusetts,  and  for  many 
years  a  trustee  of  the  college)  and  one  of 
his  classmates  took  occasion  to  "  horn  "  this 
professor.  Unfortunately,  President  Lord 
was  at  that  very  hour  making  a  call  upon 
his  associate,  and  both  gave  chase  to  the 
horn-blowers,  who  took  flight  intentionally 
in  the  direction  of  a  deep  trench  which  had 
recently  been  dug;  and  knowing  the  grounds 
and  being  nimble,  they  cleared  the  trench 
at  a  single  leap,  but  their  dignified  pursuers 
fell  in !  The  boys  waited  developments  at 
a  safe  distance,  listening  attentively,  and  soon 
heard  the  professor  say,  "  Now,  Dr.  Lord, 
you  get  on  your  hands  and  knees,  and  I 
will  climb  out  over  you,  and  then  I  will 
pull  you  out."  The  Doctor  replied,  "  Yes, 
yes,  but  the  converse  is  equally  true."  A 
burst  of  laughter  betrayed  the  boys,  when 
Dr.  Lord,  recognizing  Quint's  voice,  called 
37 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

out,  "  Quint,  Quint,  come  and  help  us  out." 
So  he  did ;  but  the  next  day  the  two  boys 
were  called  before  the  president  and  severely 
rebuked  for  insulting  their  teachers.  "  But," 
said  Quint  to  Dr.  Lord,  "  if  you  had  not 
made  fun  of  the  professor  in  the  trench  you 
would  not  have  caught  us."  The  presi- 
dent was  quick  to  recognize  the  keenness 
of  the  reply  and  let  the  offenders  off  easily. 

On  another  occasion,  as  the  story  is  told, 
the  president  caught  a  student  helping  him- 
self to  wood  from  his  shed.  He  arrested 
the  thief  and  sternly  inquired  of  him  what 
authority  he  had  for  purloining  wood 
from  his  pile.  The  frightened  and  mor- 
tified student,  recalling  his  Latin  syntax, 
replied,  "  Well,  sir,  '  Opus  and  usus,  signi- 
fying needy  require  the  ablative.' '  The 
president  responded,  "  Indeed,  you  are 
then  in  the  ablative  case,  and  in  great  need  ! 
Take  along  the  wood ;  you  are  welcome 
to  it." 

Other  cases  of  discipline   illustrate   Dr. 

Lord's  skilful  method  of  management  and 

his  power  to  control  young  men.     At  one 

time  the  chapel  Bible  from  which  the  presi- 

38 


College  Life 

dent  was  accustomed  to  read  a  chapter,  in 
conducting  morning  religious  services,  dis- 
appeared. The  students  had  assembled 
for  prayers,  and,  having  knowledge  of  the 
theft,  were  keenly  interested  in  the  exercise, 
expecting  to  hear  a  sound  lecture  on  one 
of  the  ten  commandments.  Soon  the 
president,  not  at  all  disconcerted,  rose  from 
his  chair,  and  standing  at  his  desk,  repeated 
from  memory  a  psalm  with  the  same  readi- 
ness and  composure  as  he  would  have 
shown  in  reading  it  from  the  Bible.  He 
made  no  allusion  to  the  theft,  but  his 
silence  was  a  more  severe  rebuke  than  a 
lecture  would  have  been,  and  before  the 
next  morning  the  Bible  was  returned. 

At  another  time,  early  in  the  morning, 
as  we  passed  into  the  chapel  for  prayers, 
we  were  confronted  by  a  frightful  black 
effigy  suspended  over  the  door,  reaching 
out  its  arms  so  as  almost  to  touch  our 
heads  as  we  walked  through  the  doorway. 
All  had  taken  their  seats,  and  the  president 
was  in  his  desk.  A  breathless  silence  pre- 
vailed, as  we  waited  to  hear  what  would  be 
said  to  rebuke  this  rowdyism.  Nor  were 
39 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

we  long  in  waiting.  The  president  rose  in 
a  dignified  manner,  lifted  his  glasses  to  his 
forehead,  and  in  a  distinct  voice,  and  with 
a  pleasing  smile,  said,  "  Gentlemen,  I  per- 
ceive that  one  of  our  rowdies  is  suspended." 
A  roar  of  applause  followed.  Not  another 
word  was  spoken  upon  the  subject,  but  the 
"  rowdies "  who  committed  the  offence 
were  not  pleased  with  the  company  into 
which  the  president  had  introduced  them, 
nor  did  they  hear  the  last  of  it  from  their 
fellow-students  for  many  a  day. 

Here  is  a  college  pun  worth  recording. 
President  Lord  had  eight  sons,  and  all 
graduated  from  the  college.  One  of  these 
sons  was  named  Nathan,  after  his  father, 
and  had  the  reputation  of  being  rather  wild 
and  disorderly.  Hence  the  inquiry  among 
the  students  was,  "  Why  does  Dr.  Lord  be- 
lieve in  ' total  depravity  '  ?  "  Answer  — 
"  Because  it  is  in-Nate." 

Still  another  college  anecdote  is  worth 
telling  in  this  connection.  Some  of  the 
boys  had  carelessly  formed  the  habit  of 
profanity,  but  upon  reflection  were  ashamed 
of  it,  and  resolved  to  reform.  They 
40 


College  Life 

organized  an  anti-swearing  club,  and  all 
signed  a  pledge  which  read  in  substance  as 
follows:  "I  hereby  solemnly  pledge  that 
I  will  not  use  profane  language  anywhere 
this  side  of  Mink  Brook"  This  brook,  well 
known  to  every  student  and  graduate  of 
the  college,  crosses  the  highway  leading  to 
White  River  Junction,  half  a  mile  more  or 
less  from  the  college. 

One  morning,  very  early,  a  member  of 
this  club  was  seen  running  with  great  speed 
across  the  campus  in  a  southerly  direction. 
He  was  hailed  by  a  fellow-student,  with 
the  inquiry  as  to  the  cause  of  his  haste. 
With  all  the  gravity  of  a  conscientious 
man,  he  replied,  "  I  am  going  down  over 
Mink  Brook  to  swear.  I  can't  stand  it 
any  longer." 

INCIDENTS  OF  COLLEGE  LIFE 

IT  was  Saturday  night,  when  a  rumor 
reached  the  students  from  the  neighbor- 
hood of  East  Hanover,  four  miles  away, 
that  a  mother  from  Pennsylvania  had  come 
to  Hanover  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the 
custody  of  her  four  boys,  then  living  with 
41 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

their  uncle,  the  brother  of  her  divorced 
husband.  It  was  stated  to  us  that  this 
intelligent  and  accomplished  woman  had 
learned  that  her  children  were  not  properly 
cared  for,  and  that  she  was  now  able  to 
undertake  their  future  support  and  educa- 
tion. It  was  further  stated  that  the  uncle 
had  treated  her  rudely,  and  sternly  refused 
to  give  up  the  children,  and  that  she  was 
in  great  distress.  Our  sympathy  was 
awakened,  and  our  indignation  aroused. 
Two  of  us  decided  to  go  at  once  to  the 
scene  of  conflict,  to  aid,  if  possible,  in  ad- 
justing matters.  We  went,  and  on  our  re- 
turn, after  spending  a  full  day,  reported  to 
the  student  body.  The  uncle,  who  had 
promised  us  that  he  would  give  up  the 
children,  changed  his  mind,  as  we  soon 
learned,  and  swore  that  he  would  shoot  the 
next  student  who  came  upon  his  premises. 
Upon  learning  this  fact,  it  was  at  once 
decided  to  settle  the  case  without  judge  or 
jury.  A  strong  body  of  students  was 
organized,  and  carriages  secured,  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  that  mother  and  her 
children,  by  force  if  need  be,  and  sending 
42 


College  Life 

them  to  her  home.  This  was  done  with 
great  ceremony  and  satisfaction.  They 
were  brought  to  the  college,  and  money 
was  raised  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  family 
and  an  accompanying  student  en  route, 
and  they  were  soon  safely  settled  in  their 
Pennsylvania  home. 

The  sequel  of  the  story  remains  to  be 
told.  Some  months  later,  we  were  pained 
to  learn  of  the  death  of  one  of  these  boys. 
The  next  intelligence  received,  years  after- 
wards, was  that  Hon.  S.  R.,  an  ex-member 
of  Congress,  had  died  at  his  home  in 
Pennsylvania.  That  honorable  gentleman 
proved  to  be  the  eldest  son  of  that  mother 
who  is  the  heroine  of  my  story. 

I  recall  with  great  interest  an  incident 
in  which  Alpheus  Benning  Crosby,  then  a 
mere  boy,  was  the  actor.  He  was  the  son 
of  Professor  Dixi  Crosby,  for  many  years 
the  honored  head  of  the  Medical  College  at 
Dartmouth.  Young  Crosby  was  a  born 
physician,  and  grew  up  in  the  very  atmo- 
sphere of  medical  life  and  practice.  He 
entered  college  very  young,  and  became  a 
leader  in  his  class.  The  incident  here  to 
43 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

be  recorded  will  show  his  maturity,  self- 
possession,  and  ability.  One  cold  Novem- 
ber morning,  when  the  custom  was  to  call 
in  classes  for  recitation  before  breakfast, 
the  professor  of  mathematics,  who  was  in 
poor  health,  was  seen  by  the  class  suddenly 
to  swoon,  and,  reeling  in  his  chair,  to  fall 
heavily  forward  on  his  desk.  The  class 
seemed  paralyzed  by  alarm,  and  sat  riveted 
to  their  seats,  all  except  young  Crosby, 
who  was  the  only  boy  in  the  class.  He  at 
once  took  in  the  situation,  and,  as  quickly, 
knew  just  what  to  do.  He  sprang  over 
the  benches,  and  reached  the  unconscious 
professor  in  time  to  save  him  from  falling. 
He  removed  his  collar  and  cravat  from  his 
neck,  kicked  away  the  chairs,  and  laid  his 
master  prostrate  upon  the  floor.  He 
ordered  the  windows  opened,  and  sent  one 
of  the  "  patriarchs  "  for  a  glass  of  water. 
All  his  orders  were  promptly  obeyed. 
Under  this  heroic  treatment  the  professor 
soon  opened  his  eyes  and  recovered  con- 
sciousness. The  young  doctor  who  had 
taken  charge  of  the  case,  without  waiting 
to  be  sent  for,  now  gathered  up  the  scat- 
44 


College  Life 

tered  effects,  brushed  the  professor's  coat, 
and  sent  him  safely  to  his  home. 

As  we  might  expect,  we  heard  from 
Crosby  again.  After  finishing  his  college 
and  medical  courses,  he  was  soon  appointed 
professor,  and  later  became  a  leading  lec- 
turer before  medical  classes  in  five  different 
colleges,  and  had  a  large  practice  wherever 
located.  He  died  in  the  prime  of  man- 
hood, while  delivering  a  course  of  lectures 
at  Dartmouth,  and  was  laid  beside  his 
honored  father,  in  the  village  churchyard. 

MY  OWN  COLLEGE  CLASS 

THE  class  of  1842  was  the  banner  class 
of  the  college  as  regards  the  number  of 
graduates  up  to  date,  1897.  We  entered 
one  hundred  and  one ;  thirty  more  joined 
the  class  during  our  four  years'  course ;  and 
we  graduated  eighty-seven.  Our  average 
age  at  graduation  was  twenty-three,  —  the 
youngest  was  eighteen,  and  the  oldest 
thirty.  The  class  was  physically  strong 
and  self-reliant.  They  could  withstand 
the  pressure  of  sophomore  rushes,  and  one, 
at  least,  could  hold  helpless,  at  arm's  length, 
45 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

any  two  of  their  strongest  men.  One  of 
our  boys  (who  in  his  manhood  was  for 
twenty-five  years  superintendent  of  Boston 
public  schools)  did  attack,  single-handed, 
and  repel  the  "  Dartmouth  Guards,"  —  a 
hazing  party  that  had  come  to  his  room  to 
insult  him,  —  and  drove  them  away  sore- 
headed. 

The  class  furnished  one  member  to 
General  Grant's  Cabinet  (Akerman),  one 
distinguished  general  to  the  Union  Army 
(Hobart),  one  governor  to  the  State  of 
Louisiana  during  the  Civil  War  (Flanders), 
five  judges,  —  two  of  whom  (Brigham  and 
Nash)  were  on  the  Supreme  bench  in 
Massachusetts,  —  one  member  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Parliament  in  Canada  (Sanborn), 
and  several  other  prominent  lawyers.  Our 
physicians  ranked  high,  in  practice  at  home 
and  in  the  army.  Two  of  them  became 
superintendents  of  Insane  Asylums  (Tyler 
and  Walker).  Our  clergymen  have  done 
good  service  as  preachers  and  pastors,  and 
three  of  them  received  the  honorary  degree 
of  D.D.  Our  teachers  have  honored  the 
profession,  and  some  of  them  gained  dis- 
46 


College  Life 

tinction.     Four  of  the  class  had  conferred 
upon  them  the  college  honor  of  LL.D. 

In  June  of  1892,  seventeen  of  the  thirty- 
four  survivors  at  that  time  returned  to 
Dartmouth  to  celebrate  the  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary of  our  graduation.  Time  had  wrought 
great  changes.  We  had  lost  our  physical 
identity.  Intimate  college  friends  who  had 
not  met  for  fifty  years  failed  to  recognize 
each  other.  Why  should  they,  since  each 
of  them  had  seven  times  exchanged  the  old 
for  a  new  body  ?  Death  had  done  its  work. 
Fifty-three  of  the  eighty-seven  had  died. 
The  average  age  of  those  who  had  died 
was  fifty-six.  Ten  of  this  number  had 
attained  the  age  of  seventy-three.  The 
average  age  of  the  living  was  seventy-five. 
Six  years  later  the  record  stands,  sixty- 
seven  dead  and  twenty  living.  The  class 
has  made  a  good  record  and  will  be 
remembered. 


47 


IV 

THE   STUDENT   BECOMES  A 
SCHOOLMASTER 

THE  period  of  my  life  as  a  school- 
master extended  over  eight  years, 
during  which  my  time  was  spent  in  teach- 
ing in  public  schools  and  in  laboring  to 
earn  the  money  necessary  to  defray  the 
expenses  while  studying.  I  taught  eight 
winters  in  Rockingham  and  Barre,  Ver- 
mont, and  in  Andover  and  Wellfleet, 
Massachusetts. 

My  first  little  kingdom  as  a  schoolmas- 
ter was  in  the  Locke  district  on  Rocking- 
ham Hills.  I  was  called  to  that  throne 
from  Chester  Academy  in  1834,  after  my 
first  term  of  academic  study.  My  wages 
amounted  to  eleven  dollars  per  month,  and 
board,  not  among  the  scholars,  but  among 
the  tax-payers.  This  method  of  boarding 
the  schoolmaster  was  novel  even  then ;  but 
48 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

none  except  crusty  old  bachelors  who  had 
no  children  to  educate  found  fault  with  it, 
and  why  should  they  ?  All  property 
owners  in  the  district  always  share  the 
expense  of  the  teacher's  wages,  —  and  why 
not  the  expense  of  his  board  as  well  ? 

This  boarding  the  teacher  around,  as  in 
those  early  days  and  in  a  few  cases  even 
now,  had  its  advantages  as  well  as  disad- 
vantages. The  necessity  was  thus  laid  upon 
the  teacher  to  form  an  intimate  acquain- 
tance with  all  his  patrons,  and  to  learn  the 
peculiarities  and  wishes  of  each  family. 
This  gave  him  the  opportunity  to  secure 
their  confidence  and  co-operation,  which  are 
absolutely  necessary  to  success,  whether  he 
has  one  or  many  boarding-places. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  were  serious 
disadvantages  in  this  ancient  method  of 
boarding  the  schoolmaster.  He  needed 
the  convenience  and  comforts  of  a  home 
for  rest  and  study ;  and  really  there  is  no 
more  propriety  in  boarding  the  teacher 
among  the  taxpayers  than  in  boarding  the 
pastor  among  his  parishioners,  or  the  physi- 
cian among  his  patients. 
4  49 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

My  experience  in  my  first  school  in 
the  Locke  district  left  vivid  and  lasting 
impressions  on  my  mind.  It  was  under- 
taken with  peculiar  feelings  and  some  mis- 
givings. It  seemed  a  fearful  task  for  a 
young  teacher  with  only  a  partial  prepara- 
tion for  the  work  and  with  no  experience. 
I  had  charge  of  forty  children,  of  all  ages 
from  four  to  eighteen  years,  from  every 
kind  of  family,  representing  every  phase  of 
human  nature.  The  bright  and  the  stupid, 
the  roguish  and  the  ugly,  the  restless  and 
the  turbulent  were  all  huddled  in  together, 
a  little  world  in  embryo,  and  they  were  here 
to  be  governed  and  taught  under  the  criti- 
cism of  ignorant  and  meddlesome  fathers 
and  mothers.  Never  have  I  achieved  a 
success  with  more  satisfaction  and  pride 
than  that  recognized  at  the  end  of  my 
first  three  months  of  school-life  experience. 

The  thirty-three  dollars  in  cash,  with 
even  the  best  board  which  the  good 
mothers  of  that  district  could  provide, 
seems  inadequate  compensation  for  so 
much  labor,  care,  and  anxiety  as  were  be- 
stowed upon  that  school.  But,  in  fact,  I 
5° 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

secured  much  more  than  my  salary  for  my 
services.  I  gained  valuable  experience, 
which  was  of  great  use  to  me  in  later 
years.  Incessant  toil  and  effort  to  over- 
come difficulties  gave  me  strength  and  con- 
fidence. I  learned  how  to  deal  with  men, 
women,  and  children  in  their  school  rela- 
tions. Finally,  I  learned  human  nature,  — 
an  important  lesson  for  every  schoolmaster, 
which  cannot  be  learned  anywhere  else  so 
readily  as  in  a  district  school.  I  learned  how 
to  manage  those  parents  who  were  always 
ready  to  give  advice  and  to  seek  special 
favors  for  themselves  and  their  children,  by 
listening  to  them  attentively  and  patiently, 
without  offering  offensive  opposition,  and 
then  acting  independently,  according  to  my 
own  judgment,  as  circumstances  required. 
I  found  that  any  attempt  to  follow  such 
advice  and  to  grant  such  favors,  with  a  view 
of  pleasing,  is  to  surrender  manly  independ- 
ence, and  is  sure  to  result  in  failure. 

My  second  winter  school  was  in  Factory 
Village,  Andover,  Massachusetts.     I  found 
there  a  very  different  school,  in  a  very  dif- 
ferent  neighborhood  from   the  one  I  had 
5* 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

left  in  Vermont.  The  people  were  largely 
factory  employees  and  uncultivated,  and 
the  children  reared  in  these  families  dif- 
fered but  little  from  semi-savages.  The  vil- 
lage had  become  missionary  ground  for  the 
students  of  Phillips  Academy  and  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  on  Andover  Hill.  For 
two  years  I  had  been  superintendent  of  a 
Sabbath-school  in  this  "  little  red  school- 
house  "  while  a  student  in  the  academy. 
Now  I  had  engaged  to  teach  their  district 
school.  The  school  had  run  wild  for  sev- 
eral years,  and  was  regarded  as  very  diffi- 
cult to  manage. 

The  history  of  the  first  few  days  fur- 
nishes an  instructive  object  lesson  in  school 
discipline.  Indeed  the  first  few  days  in  any 
school  usually  determines  the  teacher's 
success  or  failure. 

When  I  entered  this  school  the  first 
morning,  the  room  was  filled  with  pupils, 
and  much  confusion  prevailed.  I  rapped 
upon  the  desk  as  a  signal  for  order,  and 
waited  until  quiet  was  secured  and  all  were 
seated.  I  issued  no  commands  and  made 
no  laws,  but  kept  my  eyes  and  ears  open, 
52 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

and  watched  the  movements  that  I  might 
learn  the  drift  of  public  sentiment  and  the 
character  and  purpose  of  individual  pupils. 
I  began  to  make  inquiries  about  the  studies 
to  be  pursued  and  the  text-books  to  be 
used,  but  soon  I  observed  half  a  dozen 
boys  jumping  out  of  the  window  and  re- 
turning through  the  door.  Others  left 
their  seats  without  permission,  and  chaos 
seemed  again  to  rule  the  hour.  The  ques- 
tion was  now  to  be  settled,  how  to  bring 
the  school  under  control  and  to  hold  them 
under  authority.  By  a  special  effort  I 
gained  their  attention  and  told  them  I 
wished  to  talk  to  them  a  few  moments, 
and  they  seemed  ready  to  listen.  I  ex- 
plained to  them  my  position  as  master  and 
teacher,  and  their  position  as  pupils,  and 
our  mutual  relations  and  duties  to  each 
other.  I  assured  them  that  I  was  their 
friend,  was  interested  in  their  improvement 
and  welfare,  and  had  come  to  aid  them  in 
securing  a  practical  education.  To  this 
end,  I  needed  their  assistance  and  co-opera- 
tion. The  school  must  be  orderly,  studi- 
ous, and  obedient  under  necessary  rules 
53 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

and  regulations ;  and  if  they  compelled  me 
to  secure  these  results  by  force^  I  should 
have  but  little  time  to  devote  to  instruction. 
They  seemed  interested  in  my  ideas  and 
methods,  and  appeared  ready  to  express 
their  approval.  I  then  asked  all  who  fav- 
ored these  views,  and  were  ready  to  pledge 
obedience  and  co-operation,  to  manifest  it 
by  rising.  By  a  large  majority  they  voted 
in  the  affirmative.  I  had  thus  gained  com- 
plete moral  power  over  them,  and  had 
created  a  favorable  public  opinion  to  aid 
me  in  my  work.  I  must  now  check  and 
crush  out  every  act  of  treachery  and  insub- 
ordination, and  this  I  did  promptly  and 
effectually.  At  the  end  of  the  first  week, 
the  school  was  completely  organized  and 
under  perfect  control,  and  I  was  able  to 
maintain  my  position  to  the  end  of  the 
term,  without  resort  to  severe  punishment 
in  many  cases.  I  was  urged  to  re-engage 
for  the  next  winter,  but  declined  to  return. 
My  third  school  was  in  Wellfleet,  Massa- 
chusetts, on  Cape  Cod.  My  conveyance 
from  my  home  in  New  Hampshire  was 
by  stage,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  to 
54 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

Boston,  and  from  Boston  to  the  Cape  by 
sea,  in  an  old  fishing  schooner,  on  "  Thanks- 
giving Day  "  !  I  had  not  much  that  day 
to  be  thankful  for,  seasick  as  I  was,  except 
that  the  vessel  landed  me  safely  on  that 
sandy  shore.  There  I  found  myself  in  a 
different  climate,  among  a  "peculiar  peo- 
ple." The  briny  Atlantic  that  washes  the 
shore  tempers  the  atmosphere ;  and  the 
bleak  winds  that  sweep  over  the  sandy 
plain  keep  it  pure  and  healthful.  People 
live  their  appointed  time  and  die  there,  as 
in  other  parts  of  the  country,  but  they 
more  often  live  to  a  good  old  age  or  die 
a  violent  death.  I  remember  that  there 
were  in  the  town  of  Wellfleet,  at  the  time 
I  taught  school  there,  sixteen  widows 
whose  husbands  had  died  by  drowning. 
"  Cape  Cod  Folks,"  sixty  years  ago,  were 
a  seafaring  people.  They  then  not  only 
manned  a  large  part  of  the  American  fishing 
fleet,  but  also  gave  officers  and  sailors  to  a 
large,  and  possibly  the  larger  part  of  the 
great  and  world-wide  extended  merchant 
marine  of  the  country.  Courage,  deter- 
mination, and  business  ability  were  brought 
55 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

out  and  cultivated  by  these  opportunities 
and  this  kind  of  life.  But  there  has  been 
a  shrinkage  of  nearly  two-thirds  in  the 
fishing  business  which,  three  generations 
ago,  furnished  employment  to  nearly  all 
the  able-bodied  male  citizens.  Hence 
many  have  turned  their  attention  to  agricul- 
ture, to  growing  garden  vegetables  for  the 
city  markets,  and  to  providing  for  summer 
residents  who  have  learned  that  Cape  Cod 
is  one  of  the  most  desirable  summer  resorts 
in  the  country.  Still  they  were  and  are,  in 
the  best  sense,  a  "  peculiar  people."  There 
were  relatively  very  few  persons  residing 
among  them  of  foreign  birth.  In  their 
manners  and  habits  they  were  simple  and 
artless.  Their  homes  were  models  of  peace 
and  cordiality.  In  their  neighborhood  re- 
lations they  were  social  and  friendly,  and  al- 
ways generous  and  hospitable,  to  the  last 
degree,  to  all  who  lived  among  them. 
They  were  an  intelligent  and  religious 
people,  and  manifested  much  interest  in 
their  schools  and  teachers.  I  was  treated 
with  great  kindness  from  the  first,  and  was 
furnished  the  best  living  that  they  could 
56 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

provide.  Parents  were  ever  ready  to  co- 
operate with  me,  and  to  sustain  me  in  the 
management  of  their  schools. 

'  My  school  life  in  Wellfleet  extended 
over  five  winters,  and  in  going  and  coming 
I  had  become  quite  a  sailor,  having  crossed 
Cape  Cod  Bay  sixteen  times.  I  taught  in 
two  districts,  —  three  winters  in  the  "  Back 
Side  "  district  overlooking  the  broad  Atlan- 
tic, and  two  winters  in  the  "  Pond  Hill " 
district,  in  the  south  part  of  the  town.  At 
the  close  of  my  school  in  the  spring,  I  was 
each  time  re-engaged  for  the  next  winter. 

These  schools  numbered  nearly  one  hun- 
dred pupils  each,  ranging  from  six  to 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  They  were  of  a 
decidedly  mixed  character,  and  all  gathered 
in  one  room,  to  be  managed  and  taught 
without  an  assistant !  In  the  "  Back  Side  " 
school  I  had  a  whole  ship's  crew,  including 
captain,  mate,  and  cook.  They  had  come 
home  from  a  fishing  voyage  to  spend  the 
winter,  and,  having  nothing  else  to  do,  they 
entered  the  school.  It  will  be  readily  seen, 
as  it  proved  in  practice,  that  the  govern- 
ment of  such  a  school  was  no  "  boy's  play  " 
57 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

for  the  teacher,  however  much  the   boys 
might  play. 

I  propose  here  to  explain  the  method 
adopted  in  the  discipline  of  these  schools, 
as  an  object  lesson.  It  is  expressed  by  the 
word  management.  This  method  includes 
government  based  upon  authority,  yet  it 
aims  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  exercising 
authority  and  the  infliction  of  severe  pun- 
ishment. It  is  based  upon  the  assumption 
that  in  the  best  governed  school  the 
controlling  power  is  not  visible.  That  is, 
the  school  is  so  managed  that  it  becomes 
and  remains  self-governing.  Order  is  pre- 
served and  obedience  rendered,  yet  no 
visible  force  is  applied  to  secure  the  result. 
There  is,  indeed,  a  reserve  power  behind 
the  throne,  which,  like  the  second  brake  of 
the  engine  on  the  car  descending  Mount 
Washington  railroad,  can  be  instantly  ap- 
plied in  case  of  an  emergency.  In  apply- 
ing this  method,  I  always  insisted  that  there 
could  be  but  one  head  to  my  school  and 
that  my  authority  was  absolute ;  yet  I 
planned  and  labored  to  secure  voluntary 
conformity  to  known,  necessary  rules  and 
58 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

regulations.  To  this  end  I  aimed  to  gain  the 
confidence  of  the  pupils,  large  and  small, 
and  through  them  the  confidence  and  co- 
operation of  their  parents  and  friends.  But 
I  never  failed  promptly  to  check  every  in- 
dication of  insubordination  and  irregularity. 
The  pupils  were  treated  with  attention  and 
kindness,  at  all  times  and  everywhere. 
Out  of  school  hours  I  mingled  familiarly 
with  them,  joined  them  in  their  sports,  and 
sympathized  with  them  in  all  their  joys  and 
sorrows.  In  their  homes  —  where  I  fre- 
quently met  them,  by  the  way,  —  and  on  the 
playground  we  stood  on  'a  common  level. 
In  the  schoolroom,  however,  I  was  recog- 
nized as  master,  and  so  complete  was  their 
loyalty  —  captain,  mate  and  all  —  that  I 
could  punish,  if  need  be,  with  severity, 
in  the  presence  of  the  school,  without  the 
least  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  offender. 
I  have  spoken  of  the  loyalty  of  my 
Cape  Cod  pupils.  I  did  not  mean  that 
they  were  always  careful  to  observe  the 
rules  and  regulations  of  the  school.  Quite 
the  opposite  was  true  of  some  of  them. 
They  were  boiling  over  with  fun,  and 
59 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

sometimes  enjoyed  the  novelty  of  a  case  of 
discipline,  even  at  their  own  expense ;  but 
they  were  always  ready  to  endure  the  pen- 
alty cheerfully. 

For  example,  Seaman  Cheever,  a  large, 
rough,  and  good-natured  sailor,  sat  quietly 
in  his  seat,  studying,  as  I  supposed, 
"  Olney's  Geography."  He  found  there 
a  picture  representing  buffaloes  falling 
into  a  pit  prepared  for  their  capture.  In 
an  instant,  the  quiet  of  the  schoolroom 
was  changed  into  the  utmost  confusion  by 
Cheever's  boisterous  laughter.  I  at  once 
called  him  to  account,  and  demanded  an 
explanation.  He  began  to  apologize,  assur- 
ing me  that  he  meant  no  harm,  and  went 
on  to  say,  "  Those  buffaloes  reminded  me 
of  the  boys  jumping  off  Pond  Hill  into 
the  snowbank,  and  I  could  n't  help  laugh- 
ing." I  severely  rebuked  his  rude  and 
disorderly  conduct,  and  punished  him 
mildly,  as  a  warning  for  the  school,  and  he 
meekly  settled  down  to  quiet  study. 

I  had  another  class  of  loyal  students 
who  aimed  to  do  nothing  contrary  to  law, 
without  permission.  Shipmate  Swett  fur- 
60 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

nishes  an  example.  He  was  a  young  man 
six  feet  and  two  inches  tall,  of  dignified 
bearing,  and  occupied  a  back  seat  in  one 
corner  of  the  room.  He  asked  permission 
to  speak,  which  was  granted.  He  rose, 
and  coming  down  to  the  front,  seated  him- 
self beside  a  bright  little  girl,  some  six 
years  of  age,  and  began  conversing  with 
her.  His  only  object  was  to  make  fun, 
and  this  object  was  soon  accomplished. 
The  ludicrous  scene  excited  great  merri- 
ment. I  was  busy  in  conducting  a  recita- 
tion, but  I  paused,  and,  fixing  my  eyes  upon 
the  offender,  listened  to  the  conversation. 
The  little  girl  blushed  and  manifested  great 
uneasiness.  The  tall  shipmate,  taking  in 
the  situation,  began  to  realize  his  own  awk- 
ward position.  I  waited  the  proper  time 
to  speak,  and  then  said,  "  Swett,  don't  you 
see  how  ashamed  that  little  girl  appears  ?  " 
He  rose  to  his  feet,  and  in  great  confusion 
marched  off  to  his  own  seat,  amid  the  con- 
vulsive laughter  of  the  school.  This  treat- 
ment of  the  case  was  effective  and  produced 
a  permanent  cure. 

There  were  in  these  schools,  as  in  most 
61 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

others,  a  few  idle,  lawless  fellows  upon 
whom  moral  influence  and  mild  measures 
had  no  power.  They  had  no  desire  for 
improvement,  cared  nothing  for  law  and 
order,  had  no  respect  for  superiors,  and 
were  ready  to  defy  authority  whenever  it 
suited  their  convenience.  How  to  treat 
this  class  is  a  question  which  every  practical 
teacher  has  to  answer.  My  own  views  on 
this  point  were  formed  and  expressed  many 
years  ago,  and  my  long  and  varied  experi- 
ence in  the  discipline  of  the  school  has 
wrought  no  change  in  them.  We  hear 
much  said,  in  these  days,  upon  the  reform 
method  of  family  and  school  government. 
It  is  maintained  by  learned  theorists  in 
positions  of  high  authority,  and  it  is  voted 
by  wise  or  unwise  school  boards,  that  no 
physical  coertion  should  be  allowed  in  our 
public  schools.  If  there  are  children  who 
cannot  be  controlled  by  moral  suasion,  they 
say,  expel  them.  I  say,  in  answer  to  these 
theorists,  if  they  have  employed  teachers 
who  cannot  govern  their  schools  without 
frequent  resort  to  corporal  punishment,  turn 
them  out,  but  allow  the  skilful  disciplina- 
62 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

rian  to  retain  the  rod  for  use  in  such  cases 
as  I  have  described  above.  It  is  wrong,  it 
is  cruel,  to  turn  into  the  street  the  stubborn 
rebellious  boy  or  girl  who  refuses  to  be 
persuaded  to  submit  to  authority,  and  thus 
give  the  child  over  to  the  officers  of  the 
law,  soon  to  be  enrolled  with  the  criminal 
classes.  The  sensible  and  humane  course  is 
to  subdue  the  rebel  by  whatever  severity 
necessary,  and  save  him  to  himself,  to  his 
family,  and  to  society.  No  careful  observer 
has  failed  to  see  the  evil  results  of  this 
"  milk  and  water "  system  of  family  and 
school  government. 

These  remarks  lead  me  naturally  to  de- 
scribe some  hard  cases  in  discipline  which 
have  come  under  my  own  observation  and 
treatment.  I  will  record  them  for  the  bene- 
fit of  young  teachers  who  may  read  this 
page  in  the  history  of  my  experience.  I 
would  not  be  understood,  however,  as  ad- 
vocating severity  as  a  rule,  but  only  in 
these  exceptional  cases.  No  good  disci- 
plinarian often  uses  violent  measures,  and 
when  he  does,  it  is  not  as  "a  last  resort," 
but  as  the  proper  and  only  remedy  for  the 
63 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

case  in  hand.  Each  case  should  be  treated 
on  its  merits,  and  with  a  full  knowledge  of 
all  the  circumstances.  All  hard  cases  do 
not  require  the  use  of  the  rod,  as  the  fol- 
lowing examples  will  show. 

HARD  CASES  IN  DISCIPLINE. 

THE  first  case  I  will  mention  under  this 
head  was  one  of  deception  followed  by 
defiant  rebellion.  A  large  boy  had  been 
excused  to  return  home  early  in  the  after- 
noon, on  the  plea  that  his  father  needed 
his  services.  I  soon  discovered  him  play- 
ing ball  with  friends  not  members  of  the 
school,  in  sight  of  the  schoolhouse.  I 
immediately  sent  a  messenger  to  notify 
him  that  I  ordered  him  to  return  at  once 
to  school.  He  refused,  and  continued  his 
game.  Something  must  now  be  done,  as 
the  school  was  familiar  with  all  the  facts. 
What  should  be  done,  was  the  question. 
The  boy  came  to  school  the  next  morning, 
but  I  did  not  recognize  him  as  a  pupil. 
He  soon  discovered  by  my  treatment  that 
he  stood  suspended  until  a  satisfactory 
64 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

settlement  was  effected.  Later  he  opened 
the  case  in  his  own  behalf,  and  insisted 
that  he  had  a  right  to  remain  out  of  school, 
as  he  had  been  excused.  I  referred  him 
to  his  false  statement  when  he  asked  leave 
of  absence,  and  his  refusal  to  obey  my 
orders  to  return  to  school,  and  gave  him  a 
few  hours  to  make  a  satisfactory  confession 
before  the  school,  and  to  pledge  truthful- 
ness and  obedience  in  the  future.  If  this 
was  not  done,  I  assured  him  that  he 
would  have  me  to  deal  with  in  the  final 
settlement.  He  came  to  terms  that  were 
satisfactory,  and  gave  me  no  trouble  after- 
wards. 

The  next  case  was  still  more  aggravating 
and  difficult  to  handle.  A  bright,  talented 
boy,  fifteen  years  of  age,  was  sent  to  my 
academy,  with  the  understanding  that  he 
had  never  been  governed  at  home  or  in 
school,  and  his  near  relatives  expressed 
doubts  as  to  whether  he  could  be  brought 
under  proper  school  regulations.  He  had 
conquered  his  stepfather  in  a  pitched  battle, 
while  en  route,  and  the  latter  did  not  know 
what  to  do  with  him.  I  admired  the 
5  65 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

brightness  and  social  qualities  of  the  boy, 
and  became  greatly  interested  in  him.  But 
I  soon  discovered  that  he  had  no  idea  of 
recognizing  me  as  his  master.  Still,  some 
time  elapsed  before  we  came  into  conflict. 

I  was  one  day  conducting  a  class  recita- 
tion of  which  he  was  a  member.  Some 
question  was  put  to  him  which  he  answered 
in  an  insulting  manner.  I  rose  from  my 
chair  and  stepped  down  in  front  of  the 
boy,  with  no  intention  of  touching  him ; 
but  he  at  once  assumed  a  defiant  position, 
which  I  understood  was  intended  as  a 
challenge  to  lay  hand  on  him.  I  accepted 
it  as  such,  and  taking  him  by  the  collar 
I  laid  him  upon  his  back  on  the  floor. 
He  instantly  rose,  in  great  rage,  and  com- 
menced swearing  at  me !  I  did  not  use 
the  rod  upon  him,  for  I  had  none  at  hand, 
but  I  chastised  him  severely  (taking  care 
not  to  do  him  serious  injury),  and  con- 
tinued to  do  so  until  he  stopped  swearing. 
I  then  seated  him  by  my  side  on  the  plat- 
form, and  finished  the  recitation.  He 
was  completely  subdued,  as  I  intended  he 
should  be,  but  I  had  not  done  with  him 
66 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

yet.  The  most  important  part  of  the 
treatment  was  yet  to  come.  I  must  see 
him  alone,  as  I  did,  and  explain  to  him  my 
feelings  and  motives  in  dealing  with  him 
so  roughly.  This  was  exactly  the  time 
when  moral  suasion  could  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  him  to  some  purpose.  I  talked 
to  him  in  the  tone  arid  spirit  of  a  friend, 
and  he  recognized  me  as  such,  told  me 
frankly,  and  told  others  who  had  come  to 
sympathize  with  him  and  take  his  part 
against  me,  that  I  was  right  and  he  was 
wrong ;  and  years  afterwards,  when  I  met 
him,  he  said  that  my  treatment  of  him  on 
that  occasion  was  of  great  value  to  him  in 
after  life.  He  became  a  successful  busi- 
ness man,  and  remained  a  warm  personal 
friend  to  the  day  of  his  death. 

The  next  case  I  will  describe  reveals  a 
method  of  dealing  with  moral  evil  in 
school.  A  boy  of  twelve  years  of  age 
was  known  in  my  academy  as  an  active, 
good-natured,  and  social  little  fellow,  but 
circumstances  awakened  suspicion  that  he 
might  be,  with  all,  "  light-fingered."  Sub- 
sequent events  confirmed  this  suspicion, 
67 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

and  when  a  sum  of  money,  in  bills,  had 
disappeared  from  the  teacher's  drawer,  there 
remained  no  doubt  that  this  boy  had  it. 
After  full  investigation,  I  decided  upon 
a  course  of  treatment  of  the  case.  At 
morning  prayers  I  called  the  attention 
of  the  school  to  the  facts,  told  them  that 
the  thief  was  one  of  their  number  and  was 
present,  that  I  saw  in  his  nervous  excite- 
ment not  only  evidence  of  his  guilt,  but  of 
the  consciousness  that  he  had  made  a  great 
mistake,  and  would  gladly  make  restitution 
if  he  could  have  the  opportunity.  I  then 
described  the  nature  of  the  crime,  and 
spoke  of  the  personal  disgrace  and  the 
mortification  of  friends  that  would  result 
from  public  exposure.  Now,  to  save  the 
guilty  party  from  these  consequences,  I 
proposed  to  him  a  way  of  escape.  I 
said,  if  I  found  the  stolen  money  in  my 
chapel  Bible  the  next  morning,  I  should 
regard  the  fact  as  full  evidence  that  he  had 
sincerely  repented  of  his  sinful  act,  and 
would  not  expose  him.  All  this  time 
the  little  culprit  was  evidently  in  agony, 
and  anxious  to  hide  himself  from  public 
68 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

view.  The  next  morning,  on  the  re- 
assembling of  the  school,  I  found  the  iden- 
tical bills  carefully  laid  in  the  Bible,  as  I 
had  suggested.  The  announcement  to  the 
school  produced  a  pleasant  sensation,  but 
no  one  appeared  so  delighted  as  the  boy 
himself.  I  now  took  occasion  to  commend 
the  acts  of  repentance  and  restitution,  and 
to  impress  the  lesson  upon  the  hearts  of 
the  pupils.  Thus  ended  the  whole  affair, 
and  happy  results  followed,  as  seen  in  the 
correct  and  successful  business  life  of  the 
man  who  had  been  an  erring  boy. 

Another  case,  sad  and  troublesome,  was 
treated  in  the  same  academy.  The  con- 
duct of  two  young  men  required  uncondi- 
tional separation  from  the  school.  I  asked 
no  advice,  but  told  them  that  they  must 
leave.  There  were  yet  no  demonstrations  of 
sympathy  on  the  part  of  the  student  body, 
but  I  knew  there  would  be,  if  nothing  was 
done  to  forestall  it.  Hence  I  called  up 
the  matter  before  the  school,  and  expressed 
my  grief  in  being  compelled  to  pronounce 
the  sentence  upon  the  young  men,  and  my 
sympathy  for  them.  Though  this  verdict 
69 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

could  not  be  changed,  yet  I  was  ready  to 
do  anything  in  my  power  in  the  future  for 
their  welfare.  I  told  my  students  that  I 
wanted  an  expression  of  their  approval  of 
my  action,  if  they  could  approve,  and  called 
for  a  standing  vote.  Every  one  in  the  hall, 
including  the  expelled  young  men,  in- 
stantly rose  to  sustain  me.  I  had  now 
gained  a  moral  victory.  All  had  com- 
mitted themselves,  and  could  not  make 
me  trouble  in  the  future,  however  much 
they  might  sympathize  with  their  unfor- 
tunate companions.  I  did  not  ask  the 
school  what  I  should  do  under  the  circum- 
stances. That  was  for  me  to  settle.  I  asked 
them  to  approve  my  action,  as  I  knew  they 
would.  Had  I  doubted  this,  I  should  not 
have  put  the  vote.  My  motive  was  to 
fix  public  opinion  in  favor  of  correct  de- 
portment and  good  order. 

Still  another  case  was  treated  later.  A 
young  girl  of  fifteen  summers  had  been 
sent  to  my  Ladies'  Seminary.  She  had 
never  been  governed  at  home,  and  she  was 
not  at  all  disposed  to  recognize  authority 
or  submit  to  dictation  in  school.  Her 
70 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

mother  told  me  frankly,  that  if  the  child 
could  not  be  persuaded,  it  was  better  to 
allow  her  to  conquer  than  to  force  obedi- 
ence, but  she  wanted  me  to  control  her! 
The  girl  was  a  member  of  the  instrumental 
music  class,  and  one  of  the  requirements 
was  that  each  scholar  should  practise  her 
lesson  upon  the  piano  a  certain  number 
of  hours  each  day.  One  afternoon  it  was 
reported  to  me  that  this  young  lady  had 
refused  to  practise.  I  took  her  in  hand, 
and  ordered  her  to  obey  her  teacher,  and 
conform  to  the  rules  of  the  school.  Again 
she  refused,  but  gave  no  reason  for  her 
action.  I  insisted,  and  remained  by  her 
side  at  the  piano,  waiting  for  her  to  obey 
my  order,  from  early  evening  to  nearly 
midnight.  She  submitted,  and  I  was  again 
master  of  my  school.  Had  this  rebellious 
student  been  a  boy,  the  question  would 
have  been  settled  in  fifteen  minutes,  but 
"circumstances  alter  cases." 

The  last  specimen  case  of  discipline 
which  I  will  record  was  peculiar,  but  it 
is  liable  to  occur  in  the  experience  of  any 
teacher ;  hence  I  will  state  the  circumstances 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

and  my  method  of  treatment.  An  angry 
mother  had  the  impression  that  her  son 
had  been  ill-treated,  and  with  more  valor 
than  discretion  had  come  to  the  school,  in 
school  hours,  to  give  the  schoolmaster  a 
lecture!  She  came  in  without  knocking, 
and  began  in  an  excited  manner  to  scold 
me.  I  told  her  that  I  had  no  time,  and 
that  the  schoolroom  in  school  hours  was 
no  place  to  discuss  the  matter;  that  if  she 
would  be  seated  and  remain  until  the 
school  was  dismissed  I  would  talk  with 
her,  or  if  she  would  retire  I  would  see 
her  at  her  home  the  first  opportunity. 
This  proposition  did  not  satisfy  her.  For 
a  moment  she  insisted  upon  her  right  to 
talk  to  me  then  and  there.  But  seeing 
that  I  was  about  to  enforce  my  orders,  she 
became  quiet  and  left.  In  due  time,  a 
conference  was  held,  and  the  difficulty  set- 
tled to  our  mutual  satisfaction.  These 
six  examples  of  "hard  cases"  in  school 
discipline  serve  to  show  different  methods 
of  treatment,  as  each  differs  from  every 
other  and  may  have  many  duplicates  in 
the  experience  of  readers  of  these  pages. 
72 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 


LATER  EXPERIENCE 

I  LEFT  Cape  Cod  at  the  close  of  my  fifth 
winter  with  sincere  regret.  I  had  become 
very  much  attached  to  my  loyal  pupils  and 
the  kind-hearted  people  whom  I  had  known 
so  long  and  so  well. 

After  my  return  from  the  Cape  for  the 
last  time,  and  from  the  hayfield  where  I 
had  spent  my  summer  vacation,  I  was  taken 
down  with  fever,  and  was  for  some  weeks 
under  Professor  Dixi  Crosby's  medical 
care.  I  had  begun  to  recover,  but  had 
gained  hardly  strength  enough  to  walk 
from  my  room  to  the  carriage  in  the  street 
when  I  had  a  call  to  Barre,  Vermont,  to 
finish  a  term  of  select  school  which  had 
been  begun  by  a  young  man  who  had  just 
received  an  appointment  as  a  cadet  at  West 
Point.  I  accepted  the  offer,  and  hastened 
to  the  scene  of  my  labors.  I  found  it  a 
new  position  and  very  difficult  to  fill,  but 
was  able  to  carry  the  burden  through  with 
a  good  degree  of  satisfaction.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  district  committee  prevailed  upon 
73 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

me  to  engage  to  teach  the  public  school  in 
the  same  district,  the  winter  term.  This 
was  my  last  term  of  service  in  the  district 
school.  It  was  a  large  and  very  difficult 
school  to  govern.  It  differed  from  my  other 
schools,  not  so  much  in  the  fun-loving  pro- 
pensity of  the  pupils  as  in  the  character 
of  the  lawless  actions  of  the  pupils,  many 
of  whom  were  stubborn  and  malicious.  I 
never  found  fault  with  mere  playfulness  and 
roguery,  if  the  pupil  was  respectful  and 
loyal ;  but  the  wilful  rebel  who  defied 
authority  and  broke  every  rule  that  came 
in  his  way  found  in  me  a  hard  but  faith- 
ful master.  I  did  not  expel,  but  subdued 
him,  and  then  treated  him  with  attention 
and  kindness,  and  I  seldom  if  ever  failed  to 
make  him  my  friend.  I  had  more  such 
pupils  to  manage  in  Barre  than  in  Well- 
fleet,  but  I  was  able  to  carry  the  school 
through  successfully.  I  then  returned  to 
college,  at  the  opening  of  the  spring  term, 
to  resume  my  studies,  and  to  complete 
the  year's  work  in  less  than  six  months, 
as  I  had  already  lost  two  terms  of  that 
year. 

74 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

I  had  now  taught  district  schools  eight 
terms  of  three  months  each,  and  one  select 
school  two  months.  I  had  still  one  year 
more  to  complete  my  college  course,  but 
only  half  of  this  year  could  be  spent  with 
my  class.  I  was  engaged  during  the  fall  term 
of  1841  as  associate  principal  of  Hebron 
(New  Hampshire)  Academy,  under  Mr. 
Leonard  Tenny,  a  college  mate,  an  associate 
as  a  Cape  Cod  schoolmaster,  and  a  life- 
long friend,  and  during  the  winter  I  was 
principal  of  the  same  academy.  Here  I 
had  less  discipline,  but  more  instruction  in 
higher  branches,  which  proved  to  be  a  new 
experience  of  great  value  in  my  subsequent 
academic  life.  I  was  brought  in  contact 
with  more  mature  minds,  with  ambitious, 
scholarly,  and  critical  young  men  and  women 
who  came  into  my  classes,  several  of  whom 
became  distinguished  in  after  life.  In  the 
spring  of  1842,  I  returned  to  Dartmouth 
to  spend  my  last  terms  of  study  and  to 
graduate.  The  goal  was  finally  reached, 
and  the  object  of  my  ambition  attained, 
though  imperfectly ;  but  rough  was  the 
road  and  desperate  the  effort  necessary  to 
75 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

gain  it.  Not  half  of  the  first  four  years  in 
the  preparatory  course,  as  I  have  stated, 
had  I  been  able  to  spend  in  study,  and  only 
ten  of  the  sixteen  terms  in  college  could  I 
remain  with  my  class. 

THE  PROFIT  AND  Loss  ESTIMATED 

A  BRIEF  review  of  this  struggle  and  its 
results  seems  appropriate  in  this  connec- 
tion. My  education  cost  me  eight  years 
of  time  and  of  hard  work,  and  all  the  money 
I  could  earn  by  manual  labor  and  teaching, 
and  four  hundred  dollars  for  which  I  was 
in  debt  when  I  graduated.  And  I  sold  my 
watch  on  commencement  day  to  Professor 
Cyrus  Baldwin  of  Kimball  Union  Academy 
for  forty  dollars,  to  enable  me  to  meet  my 
share  of  class  expenses  and  make  a  contri- 
bution to  the  college  library. 

Another  question  arises  here,  —  Was  it 
wise  to  make  this  sacrifice  and  contract  a 
debt  at  the  risk  of  future  success  ?  My 
answer  is,  I  have  never  regretted  my  course 
in  this  regard,  but  rather  that  I  did  not 
secure  an  additional  loan  and  spend  two  or 
76 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

three  years  more,  at  least,  in  supplementary 
study  in  the  university  and  normal  school. 
It  would  have  added  much  to  my  efficiency 
as  a  teacher  and  to  the  certainty  of  success. 
I  have  no  sympathy  with  the  false  notion 
that  a  collegiate  education  is  not  a  desirable 
preparation  for  professional  study,  and  I 
have  no  respect  for  the  false  guide  who 
would  advise  a  young  man,  because  he  is 
poor,  to  pass  by  the  college  and  rush  into 
the  profession  of  law,  medicine,  teaching,  or 
the  ministry  with  no  preparation,  except  to 
learn  his  trade  as  does  the  blacksmith  or 
the  carpenter.  The  preparatory  discipline 
of  the  college,  in  addition  to  the  professional, 
is  in  every  case  desirable,  if  the  candidate 
would  make  the  most  of  himself  and  his 
opportunities.  If  he  has  wise  counsellors, 
the  ambitious  young  man,  though  entirely 
dependent,  will  seek  the  discipline  and  cul- 
ture of  as  thorough  an  academic  and  col- 
legiate course  as  is  within  his  reach  and 
attainable  means,  before  he  enters  upon  his 
professional  studies  or  the  business  of  his 
life.  He  needs  first  and  most  of  all  the 
attainment  of  intellectual  manhood,  what- 
77 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

ever  is  to  be  his  future  position  and  work. 
The  lamented  Dr.  Miner,  while  he  was 
president  of  Tufts  College,  and  at  the  same 
time  one  of  the  leading  preachers  and  pas- 
tors in  the  city  of  Boston,  when  he  came 
to  New  Hampshire  to  deliver  a  lecture 
before  my  school,  remarked  to  me  that  he 
had  always  regretted  his  decision  to  enter 
professional  life  while  yet  so  young,  and  with- 
out more  careful  preparation.  He  said: 
"  Had  I  realized  the  possibilities  of  life, 
I  should  have  taken  a  thorough  collegiate 
course."  Yet  Dr.  Miner  was  a  poor  boy 
and  entirely  dependent  upon  himself,  and 
his  regret  was  expressed  with  this  fact  fully 
in  view.  And  many  others,  under  similar 
circumstances,  have  felt  and  spoken  in  the 
same  way, — but  who  ever  heard  a  success- 
ful professional  man  who  had  enjoyed  the 
advantages  of  a  liberal  education  regret 
that  he  had  spent  so  much  time  and  money 
in  academic  and  collegiate  study  ?  Still,  we 
are  told  that  very  many  of  our  most  dis- 
tinguished men  in  public  life  have  gained 
their  positions  without  college  training. 
But  even  these  exceptions  do  not  militate 
78 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

against  liberal  culture,  as  Dr.  Miner's  case 
plainly  shows.  If  they  have  done  so  much 
and  so  well  without  the  advantages  of  sys- 
tematic instruction,  they  would  have  done 
more  and  better  with  them. 

Too  long  our  professional  schools  have 
held  a  rank  hardly  above  that  of  trade 
schools,  and  have  been  producing  phy- 
sicians who  are  nothing  but  physicians, 
lawyers  who  are  nothing  but  lawyers,  and 
clergymen  who  are  nothing  but  clergymen, 
—  men  capable  of  devotion  to  merely  a 
single  branch  of  knowledge.  It  is  an  en- 
couraging fact  that  there  is  an  increasing 
determination  among  our  leading  educators 
to  improve  professional  training,  and  espe- 
cially to  demand  the  acquisition  of  that 
general  knowledge  which  makes  a  truly 
cultivated  man  a  prerequisite  to  professional 
study. 

But  the  main  question  returns  for  a  more 
detailed  answer,  —  What  was  lost  and  gained 
in  consequence  of  my  "  straightened  cir- 
cumstances ?  "  The  fact  that  I  was  en- 
tirely dependent  upon  myself  cost  me 
more  time  in  preparing  for  college.  I 
79 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

suffered  on  the  score  of  health  from  irregu- 
lar habits  of  living,  —  self  and  club  board- 
ing. I  lost  the  benefit  of  careful  and 
systematic  study,  and  consequently  class 
standing  in  scholarship,  which  I  might 
have  held,  if  I  could  have  had  the  same 
opportunity  that  many  of  my  classmates 
enjoyed. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  gained  physical 
vigor  from  the  necessity  of  manual  labor, 
and  lasting  benefits  from  contact  with  the 
busy  world,  and,  with  all,  I  acquired  the 
habits  of  self-reliance,  industry,  and  econ- 
omy, without  which  success  in  life  is  im- 
possible. Dr.  Cable  has  told  us  that  "hard 
experiences  are  often  the  foundation  stones 
of  a  successful  life." 

I  pause  right  here  to  make  a  confession 
of  an  absolute  failure  when  preparing  for 
college  at  Kimball  Union  Academy,  —  the 
only  complete  failure  that  I  am  willing  to 
acknowledge  in  my  busy  life.  This  re- 
sulted from  an  effort  to  bake  a  johnny-cake 
on  a  box-stove  in  an  open  dish.  The 
meal  was  mixed  with  water  all  right,  but 
the  baking  was  a  failure  for  causes  then 
80 


The  Student  Becomes  a  Schoolmaster 

beyond  my  knowledge  or  control.  And 
my  loss  of  time,  all  the  capital  invested, 
and  my  supper,  were  irrecoverable.  The 
cooking  teacher  was  not  then  "  abroad." 

Now  I  may  refer  to  the  balance-sheet  in 
the  ledger  of  poverty  and  wealth.  How 
stands  the  account  between  the  poor  and 
the  wealthy  student  who  have  pursued  and 
completed  a  course  of  study  side  by  side, 
and  passed  out  into  the  world  for  another 
trial  of  ability  and  strength  ?  Success  cer- 
tainly crowns  the  life  of  the  poor  student, 
who  worked  his  way,  as  frequently  as  that 
of  the  rich  who  was  carried  through  his 
course  of  study.  The  history  of  every 
college  in  the  nation,  and  the  experience 
and  observation  of  living  men  in  active  life, 
confirm  this  view  of  the  question. 

There  is  one  more  item  of  the  account 
which  has  not  been  placed  upon  the  balance- 
sheet  ;  namely,  the  gain  resulting  from 
having  broken  away  from  the  influences 
by  which  my  boyhood  was  surrounded,  to 
pursue  a  course  of  study,  imperfect  as  it 
was.  That  it  was  a  gain  and  not  a  loss,  I 
have  only  to  compare  the  results  to  my- 
6  81 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

self,  my  family,  and  the  world,  with  those 
of  many  of  my  early  companions,  of  at 
least  equal  ability  and  means,  who  re- 
mained at  home.  An  education,  however 
much  it  may  have  cost,  if  properly  used, 
always  pays  with  good  interest  on  the  in- 
vestment ;  and  the  more  thorough  and  ex- 
tensive, the  more  valuable  it  is. 


82 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER   BECOMES 
A  PRECEPTOR. 

BEFORE  leaving  college,  I  had  ac- 
cepted an  appointment  by  the 
trustees  of  Hebron  Academy  as  their 
principal.  I  had  already  taught  there,  as 
an  associate  principal  and  principal,  for 
two  terms,  as  before  stated ;  now  I  was  to 
take  charge  of  the  school,  to  begin  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year.  This  was  one  of 
those  new-born  and  short-lived  academies 
which  accomplished  much  for  the  cause 
of  education  in  their  day.  Among  the 
trustees  was  the  distinguished  Colonel 
Berry,  who  became  the  war  governor  of 
New  Hampshire  in  1861-62,  and  lived  to 
be  nearly  ninety-eight  years  of  age.  The 
school  opened  in  September,  1 842,  with  en- 
couraging prospects.  Among  my  pupils 
was  Austin  F.  Pike,  who  recited  to  me  his 
last  academic  lesson  in  the  academy,  and  at 
83 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

once  entered  upon  the  study  of  law  with 
Judge  Nesmith  of  Franklin,  became  a  lead- 
ing lawyer  in  the  State,  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  United 
States  Senator. 

Soon  after  accepting  this  position,  I 
married  Miss  Sarah  A.  Cummings  of  And- 
over,  Mass.  She  acted  as  preceptress  in 
this  and  other  schools,  and  in  the  care  of 
our  large  family  of  pupils,  with  marked 
ability  and  fidelity  for  twenty-one  years,  to 
the  day  of  her  death,  and  she  contributed 
largely  to  my  success.  It  was  not  our  pur- 
pose to  make  Hebron  our  permanent  home, 
and  we  were  not  long  in  waiting  for  a  change. 
About  the  middle  of  the  winter  term, 
Messrs.  Short,  Latham,  and  Howard,  three 
prominent  men  -of  Thetford,  Vermont,  and 
trustees  of  Thetford  Academy,  called 
upon  us,  spent  the  night,  and  looked  up 
our  record  in  the  school  and  neighbor- 
hood, and  before  leaving  informed  me  that 
I  was  elected  principal  of  their  academy. 
After  some  investigation,  I  accepted,  to 
begin  in  April,  1843.  This  gave  us  but 
two  terms  at  Hebron. 
84 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

THETFORD  ACADEMY 

THETFORD  Academy  is  one  of  the  oldest 
institutions  of  its  kind  in  New  England, 
having  been  founded  in  1819.  Among 
its  founders  and  most  influential  early 
trustees  was  the  famous  Dr.  Asa  Burton, 
the  great  theologian  of  his  day.  He  was 
the  author  of  the  "  Taste  Scheme,"  as  it 
was  called,  in  distinction  from  the  "  Exer- 
cise Scheme "  as  held  by  Dr.  Emmons 
of  Franklin,  Mass.  These  two  theological 
leaders  engaged  in  a  long  and  animated 
discussion  on  this  subject ;  the  one  main- 
taining that  a  man's  taste  (or  disposition) 
constituted  him  saint  or  sinner,  though  it 
remain  dormant ;  the  other  claiming  that 
there  could  be  no  holiness  or  sin  unless 
this  disposition  is  exercised.  Dr.  Burton 
was  pastor  of  Thetford  village  church  for 
more  than  fifty  years. 

I  recall  with  deep  interest  the  board  of 
trustees  who  served  in  that  office  during 
my  administration.  They  were  able,  wise, 
and  public-spirited  men,  always  ready  to 
sustain  and  aid  their  principal  every  way  in 
85 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

their  power.  The  board  consisted  of  Hon. 
Simeon  Short,  Rev.  E.  G.  Babcock,  Rev. 
Erdix  Tenney  of  Lyme,  N.  H.,  Prof.  Ira 
Young,  and  Prof.  Alpheus  Crosby  of 
Dartmouth  College,  Dr.  Nathaniel  White, 
Dr.  E.  C.  Worcester,  Abijah  Howard, 
Esq.,  and  Enoch  Slade,  Esq.  I  would 
not  fail  to  recognize  the  intelligent  and 
hospitable  citizens  and  their  families  in  that 
neighborhood  who  contributed  cheer  and 
relief  to  our  careworn  lives  by  their  kind 
words  and  social  entertainments. 

In  alluding  to  the  two  pastors  of  the  old 
church  on  Thetford  Hill,  and  their  con- 
nection with  the  academy,  I  will  mention 
that  soon  after  we  were  settled  at  Thetford, 
I  wrote,  by  request  of  the  editors,  a  series 
of  articles  for  the  "  Congregational  Journal," 
published  at  Concord,  N.  H.,  on  the  life 
and  character  of  Dr.  Burton,  which  led  me 
to  investigate  and  to  measure  his  immense 
power  and  great  influence  over  that  com- 
munity. Rev.  Mr.  Babcock,  our  pastor, 
was  a  strong  man  and  an  able  writer,  but 
not  a  pulpit  orator.  He  had  formed  one 
peculiar  habit  in  his  study,  which  had  great 
86 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

power  over  him.  He  always  wrote  in  full 
his  sermons  for  each  Sabbath  service,  and 
read  them  with  great  rapidity.  These 
sermons  were  always  written  between  Friday 
noon  and  the  hour  when  they  were  to  be 
delivered.  He  told  me  that  he  could 
write  them  at  no  other  time. 

The  academy  which  was  now  to  come 
under  my  management,  and  for  the  success 
of  which  I  was  to  be  responsible  for  the 
next  twelve  years,  had  run  very  low  under 
its  former  principal.  He  had  already  left 
town,  and  the  last  term  of  the  year  was  in 
charge  of  Judge  S.  Short,  one  of  the 
trustees,  and  numbered  but  thirty-two 
students,  —  boys  and  girls  gathered  from 
the  immediate  neighborhood. 

On  surveying  the  ground,  I  understood 
the  situation.  The  old  academy  building, 
worth  perhaps  $500,  was  the  only  prop- 
erty held  in  trust  by  the  trustees.  The 
school  had  to  be  supported  by  a  low-rate 
tuition.  The  capacity  of  the  village  to 
accommodate  students  from  abroad  was 
limited.  But  this  was  not  the  time  to 
worry  about  insufficient  accommodations  ; 
87 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

for  the  school  to  be  accommodated  was  not 
in  sight.  The  outlook  was  not  encourag- 
ing, nor  calculated  to  awaken  large  expecta- 
tions or  great  enthusiasm.  But  we  had 
come  to  stay  for  several  years,  and  I  settled 
down  upon  the  purpose  to  win  success  by 
earnest,  persistent  toil,  if  success  were  pos- 
sible. I  arranged  to  open  the  fall  term 
with  a  full  board  of  teachers,  and  a  course 
of  study,  both  classical  and  English,  suf- 
ficient to  fit  for  college  and  for  business. 
I  sent  out  my  circulars  broadcast,  and 
very  soon  there  appeared  another  circular, 
almost  an  exact  copy  of  mine,  except  the 
names,  announcing  a  select  school,  to  begin 
at  the  same  time,  at  Post  Mills  (a  village 
in  the  same  town,  two  miles  away).  I  had 
promised  lectures  from  abroad  to  be  deliv- 
ered to  my  school.  The  Post  Mills  echo 
circular  repeated,  without  quotation  marks, 
lectures  from  abroad.  This  school  was  de- 
signed as  a  rival  to  Thetford  Academy,  but 
it  did  not  prove  very  discouraging.  Our 
terms  opened,  and  the  roll-call  showed  one 
hundred  and  four  students  at  Thetford,  and 
about  thirty  at  Post  Mills ;  and  as  the 
88 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

term  progressed,  the  flood-tide  seemed  to 
be  running  my  way.  I  was  the  only 
lecturer  "  from  abroad "  secured  at  Post 
Mills.  That  school  broke  up  at  the  end 
of  the  term,  and  most  of  the  students 
entered  my  school  when  it  next  opened. 
There  was  now  no  rival  academy  nearer 
than  Kimball  Union,  at  Meriden  on  the 
south,  and  St.  Johnsbury  Academy  on  the 
north. 

The  winter  and  summer  terms  were 
always  smaller  than  the  fall  and  spring 
terms,  but  the  school  continued  to  in- 
crease each  corresponding  term  of  the  year, 
until  the  village  was  literally  packed,  and 
every  available  spare  room  was  occupied  by 
students.  The  attempt  was  now  made  to 
expand.  Burton  Hall,  named  after  Dr. 
Burton,  was  erected  on  the  north  side  of 
the  academy,  to  furnish  rooms  for  young 
men ;  and  "  Mrs.  Burton  Hall,"on  the  south 
side,  to  furnish  rooms  for  young  women. 
Four  dormitories  were  finished  off  in  the 
attic  of  the  academy.  This  mention  re- 
calls the  history  of  the  short  life  of  a 
remarkable  young  man  who  was  then  one 
89 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

of  my  students,  —  David  Conant  from 
Lyme,  N.  H.,  the  brother  of  Judge  C.  C. 
Conant  of  Greenfield,  Mass.  He  was  a 
mechanic.  He  undertook  the  building  of 
these  rooms.  He  drove  the  ox-team 
which  drew  the  lumber,  and  himself,  alone, 
constructed  the  rooms,  thus  earning  so 
much  toward  defraying  his  expenses  in 
school.  We  will  follow  Conant  a  little 
further.  He  finished  his  academic  studies, 
and  entered  the  Medical  College  at  Han- 
over, from  which  he  graduated  in  due  time, 
soon  gained  a  large  practice  in  New  York 
City,  and  was,  when  he  died,  a  professor 
and  lecturer  in  several  medical  colleges. 
He  died  early,  of  a  malignant  disease  con- 
tracted in  his  practice. 

Our  additional  rooms  were  soon  filled, 
and  we  were  more  than  ever  in  need  of  still 
better  accommodations.  Each  announce- 
ment in  the  papers  that  the  village  was  full 
brought  a  new  stage  load  of  applicants  for 
admission.  These  were  domiciled  in  the 
suburbs,  even  at  some  distance  from  the 
academy.  The  school  continued  to  in- 
crease until  two  hundred  and  fifty- two  were 
90 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

enrolled  and  on  the  ground  at  the  same  time, 
packing  the  boarding-houses  to  repletion. 
In  1850,  four  hundred  and  thirty-six  differ- 
ent students  entered  the  academy  from 
fifteen  states.  At  that  time,  half-fare  railroad 
tickets  to  and  from  Thetford  could  be  bought 
at  the  depots  in  Boston  and  Worcester,  Mass. 
I  had  increased  my  board  of  instruction, 
expanded  and  perfected  the  courses  of  study, 
and  organized  regular  classes  for  graduation, 
both  classical  and  English.  At  the  close 
of  the  second  year,  and  ever  afterwards, 
large  classes  graduated  and  entered  college, 
or  pursued  the  business  of  active  life. 
During  the  twelve  years,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  young  men  entered  Dartmouth, 
Harvard,  Yale,  Amherst,  Williams,  Brown, 
Middlebury,  Tufts,  and  Vermont  Univer- 
sity, and  nearly  all  of  them  graduated 
in  due  time.  Quite  a  number  of  young 
ladies,  and  some  young  men,  from  these 
classes  entered  upon  the  profession  of 
teaching  as  their  life-work.  The  number 
of  students  enrolled  in  Thetford  Academy 
during  my  administration  was  more  than 
twenty-five  hundred. 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

I  cherish  an  affectionate  and  grateful  re- 
membrance of  the  forty-eight  associates  and 
assistant  teachers  employed  in  Thetford 
Academy  during  this  period.  We  always 
worked  together  in  perfect  harmony. 

My  labors  at  Thetford  Academy  were 
incessant.  I  had  the  entire  financial  busi- 
ness of  the  school  to  conduct  without  a 
clerk ;  the  management  and  discipline  of 
the  school,  the  oversight  of  every  depart- 
ment of  instruction,  and  taught  classes  my- 
self, from  six  to  seven  hours  per  day,  five 
days  per  week.  Added  to  this,  and  an 
occasional  lecture  before  the  school,  was 
the  labor  of  conducting  a  Bible  class,  con- 
sisting of  the  whole  school,  Sabbath  morn- 
ing ;  a  class  of  young  men  at  noon,  in  the 
church ;  of  attending  two  church  services 
during  the  day,  and  a  social  religious  meet- 
ing in  the  academy  in  the  evening,  in  which 
I  usually  took  part.  And  even  this  was 
not  all.  I  had  reason  to  expect  a  call  at 
any  time,  at  unseasonable  hours,  to  some 
boarding-house  or  store  to  quell  a  disturb- 
ance or  settle  a  dispute. 

Vacations  were  a  welcome  change,  but  no 
92 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

relief  from  toil  and  care.  A  new  school 
must  then  be  gathered,  and  arrangements 
made  for  the  ensuing  term.  This  was  my 
work,  my  care,  and  my  responsibility,  with- 
out cessation,  during  the  entire  twelve 
years.  Yet,  though  excessive,  I  did  not 
regard  it  as  a  burden  that  could  not  be 
borne.  I  fully  realized  that  "  eternal  vigi- 
lance "  and  hard  labor  are  the  price  of  suc- 
cess. Were  I  again  placed  in  the  same 
position,  however,  with  my  present  views,  I 
should  devote  more  hours,  especially  on 
the  Sabbath,  to  rest  or  recreation. 

THETFORD  ACADEMY  SEVENTY-FIFTH 
ANNIVERSARY 

THE  memory  of  that  throng  of  students 
who  gathered  on  Thetford  Hill  during  the 
eventful  years  of  my  administration  as  the 
head  of  the  old  academy  has  always  been 
pleasant  and  inspiring ;  but  this  feeling  was 
greatly  intensified  by  attending  the  seventy- 
fifth  anniversary  of  its  life  in  June,  1894. 
I  was  invited  to  return  to  review  the  scenes 
of  my  former  labors,  and  to  meet  my  old 
93 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

students,  many  of  whom  I  had  not  seen  for 
forty  or  fifty  years.  I  expected  to  meet 
them,  but  the  young  men  and  women  who 
in  the  days  of  our  school  life  recognized 
me  as  their  preceptor  were  not  there. 
Only  their  representatives  had  come  to  the 
anniversary. 

The  ringing  of  the  old  academy  bell 
called  to  a  reception  in  the  hall  where,  half 
a  century  ago,  we  were  accustomed  to 
assemble  daily.  I  answered  the  call,  and 
was  greeted  at  the  door  by  scores  of  people 
who  claimed  to  know  me,  but  many  of 
whom  I  did  not  recognize.  I  pressed  my 
way  into  the  chapel.  Every  seat  and  all 
the  standing  room  were  occupied.  They 
rose  to  greet  their  old  preceptor,  not  the 
earnest  and  loyal  students  I  used  to  meet 
there,  but  careworn  and  hoary-headed  men 
and  women.  They  bore  the  same  names, 
unless  they  had  been  changed  by  marriage, 
and  claimed  identity ;  but  I  could  not  recall 
them. 

On  the  platform  were  seated  several  of 
my  former  associate  teachers,  and  by  the 
table  stood  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
94 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

occasion.  It  was  not  John  Eaton,  the 
noble,  unassuming,  and  faithful  young  man 
who  used  to  come  to  me  for  instruction 
and  counsel,  but  General  John  Eaton, 
LL.D.,  from  Washington,  D.  C.,  a  man  of 
national  reputation,  gained  by  his  official 
connection  with  the  government  during 
the  Civil  War,  his  sixteen  years  of  service  at 
the  head  of  the  National  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation, and  the  ex-president  of  Marietta 
College.  Later  we  were  called  to  the  vil- 
lage church,  which  was  filled  to  overflowing, 
to  listen  to  the  historic  address  and  poem 
prepared  for  the  occasion.  The  genial 
general  was  the  presiding  officer  there  also, 
as  at  the  morning  session.  It  had  been 
announced  that  the  address  would  be  de- 
livered by  Carlos  Slafter,  and  the  poem  by 
Edward  A.  Jenks ;  but  this  was  a  mistake. 
These  gentlemen  were  Rev.  Professor 
Carlos  Slafter,  who  had  been  forty  years 
the  honored  principal  of  Dedham  (Mass.) 
High  School,  and  Hon.  Edward  A. 
Jenks,  A.M.,  the  scholarly  gentleman  and 
successful  business  man  from  Concord, 
N.  H. 

95 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

Again,  in  the  evening,  we  repaired  to  the 
church  for  another  session,  to  be  presided 
over  by  Chester  C.  Conant,  and  addressed 
by  Thomas  W.  Bicknell,  and  others.  But 
the  presiding  officer  was  Judge  Chester  C. 
Conant  of  Greenfield,  Mass.,  and  the  address 
was  by  Hon.  Thomas  W.  Bicknell,  LL.D., 
of  Providence,  R.  I.  In  the  afternoon  we 
were  invited  to  the  large  tent  on  the  Com- 
mon, to  partake  of  a  sumptuous  dinner, 
and  to  listen  to  the  after-dinner  speeches. 
There  Dr.  Bicknell  appeared,  presiding  at 
the  tables.  He  had  grown  so  tall  since  he 
left  the  old  academy,  as  a  student,  that  he 
hardly  knew  whether  he  lived  on  earth  or 
in  the  heavens.  His  preceptor,  in  his  after- 
dinner  speech,  gave  as  a  reason  for  his 
altitude  that  he  was  reared  in  Rhode  Island, 
a  State  so  small  that  he  could  grow  only  in 
one  direction,  and  that  his  baldness  might 
be  due  to  the  fact  that  his  head  reached 
beyond  the  region  of  vegetation.  Among 
the  speakers  at  the  table  were  Hon.  Henry 
Albert  Morrill,  LL.D.,  professor  in  the 
Cincinnati  (Ohio)  Law  School ;  Rev.  Alva 
Hovey,  D.D.,  president  of  the  Theological 
96 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

Seminary  at  Newton  Centre,  Mass. ;  Judge 
C.  C.  Conant,  Hon.  Gilbert  E.  Hood,  and 
Rev.  Wm.  S.  Palmer,  D.D.  These  were 
all  former  students  in  Thetford  Academy, 
but  now,  with  many  others  present  and 
absent  whom  they  represented  in  the 
different  professions  and  honorable  avoca- 
tions, are  among  the  foremost  men  in  the 
life  of  the  nation.  They  had  come  back  to 
tell  us  what  the  young  men  who  gathered 
for  instruction  in  these  consecrated  halls, 
during  this  peroid  of  the  school's  history, 
had  accomplished  in  the  world.  It  may 
here  be  safely  claimed,  that  no  academy  in 
the  nation,  in  the  same  length  of  time,  ever 
graduated  an  abler,  better,  and  more  suc- 
cessful class  of  students. 

The  lawyers  present  at  the  anniversary 
represented  Judge  Gleason  of  Thetford, 
trustee  of  the  academy ;  Hon.  A.  W. 
Tenney  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  United  States 
district  attorney  and  judge  and  orator  at 
General  Grant's  tomb  on  memorial  day 
last  year ;  Hon.  Lyman  Hinckley,  late 
Lieutenant  Governor  of  Vermont ;  Hon. 
H.  J.  Boardman,  president  of  the  Massa- 
7  97 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

chusetts  Senate  for  two  years ;  Judge  J. 
B.  Richardson,  of  the  Supreme  Court  in 
Boston ;  Hon.  A.  S.  Marshall,  district 
attorney  for  New  Hampshire ;  Hon.  Ira 
Colby  of  Claremont,  N.  H.,  and  many 
others  worthy  of  honorable  mention. 

The  physicians  present  represented  such 
men  in  the  profession  as  Prof.  C.  P.  Frost, 
LL.D.,  for  many  years  at  the  head  of  the 
Medical  College  at  Dartmouth  College ; 
Dr.  Wm.  L.  Worcester,  an  expert  physician 
for  mental  diseases  and  an  able  writer  on 
medical  subjects ;  Dr.  Osgood  Mason  of 
New  York  City ;  and  many  other  able 
practitioners. 

The  clergymen  present  represented  Rev. 
Gustavus  D.  Pike,  D.D.,  of  the  American 
Missionary  Association ;  Rev.  Wilson  A. 
Farnsworth,  D.D.,  for  more  than  forty  years 
a  leading  missionary  in  Turkey ;  Rev.  Alfred 
Putnam,  D.D. ;  Rev.  George  W.  Gardner, 
D.D. ;  Rev.  Calvin  C.  Hulbert,  D.D. ; 
and  a  score  of  other  able  preachers  and 
pastors. 

The  teachers  present  represented  three 
college  presidents,  —  General  Eaton,  Dr. 
98 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

Gardner,  and  Dr.  Hulbert ;  at  least  three 
college  professors,  —  Professor  Ruggles  of 
Dartmouth,  Professor  Woodworth  of  North 
Dakota  University,  and  Professor  Perry  of 
Williams  College,  a  distinguished  author 
and  the  champion  of  Free  Trade,  who  was 
once  pitted  against  Horace  Greeley  in  a 
public  discussion  on  that  subject.  The  last 
time  I  met  Professor  Perry,  he  spoke  with 
much  earnestness  upon  his  favorite  subject, 
alluding  sneeringly  to  "a  duty  on  hides," 
which  was  then,  as  more  recently,  under  dis- 
cussion in  Congress.  I  said  to  him  that  he 
doubtless  knew  more  than  I  did  upon  this 
disputed  question,  but  one  thing  I  did 
know,  I  performed  my  duty  on  hides 
while  he  was  my  pupil,  and  to  this  he 
might  owe  his  success  in  life.  Hon.  Gil- 
bert E.  Hood,  my  honored  successor  as 
principal  of  Thetford  Academy ;  Hon. 
Edward  Conant,  for  six  years  state  super- 
intendent of  public  instruction,  and  now 
principal  of  a  Vermont  Normal  School ; 
Hon.  Frederick  Bates,  superintendent  of 
schools  and  Mayor  of  Titusville,  Pa. ; 
Prof.  George  C.  Mack,  Prof.  Henry 
99 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

Babcock,  and  Prof.  S.  W.  Burnham  of  the 
Chicago  University,  are  also  among  the 
distinguished  professional  teachers  edu- 
cated at  Thetford  Academy  during  these 
years. 

The  old  academy  also  shared  in  the 
sacrifices  and  honors  of  the  Civil  War. 
General  Eaton  gained  his  title  by  his 
official  connection  with  the  Union  Army ; 
among  others  who  went  to  the  front  were 
Gen.  Charles  E.  Hovey,  Gen.  John  B. 
Sanborn,  Majors  E.  W.  and  E.  P.  Farr, 
Col.  S.  A.  Adams,  Captains  George  Farr, 
T.  Sanborn,  and  Edwin  B.  Frost,  surgeons, 
Prof.  C.  P.  Frost,  Doctors  H.  H.  Gilbert, 
G.  M.  Eaton,  and  R.  O.  Mason.  General 
Hovey  was  severely  wounded,  and  Captain 
Frost  was  shot  dead  on  the  battlefield 
while  acting  as  major. 

This  anniversary  recalled  the  names  and 
deeds  of  many  wives,  mothers,  and  teachers 
who  were  my  pupils  at  Thetford  Academy. 
They  too,  as  equals  of  the  young  men  with 
whom  they  were  associated  as  students,  in 
scholarship,  fidelity,  and  loyalty,  deserve 
honorable  mention.  Mrs.  Mary  (Clemant) 
100 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

Leavitt,  of  Hilo,  Hawaii,  leads  this  noble 
band.  She  was  sixty-three  years  old,  she 
said,  and  the  last  eleven  years  she  had 
travelled  160,000  miles,  sailed  in  114 
steamers,  written  32,564  pages,  held  2,301 
meetings,  employed  252  interpreters  to 
change  words  into  47  different  languages, 
and  formed  140  societies.  All  this  time 
she  travelled  alone.  She  devoted  fifteen 
years  to  missionary  work  without  compen- 
sation, except  her  living  and  necessary  ex- 
penses ;  organizing,  teaching,  and  lecturing 
in  thirty-five  different  countries.  Two  of 
her  three  daughters  are  prominent  teachers 
in  the  United  States,  and  the  third  is  the 
mother  of  her  three  grandchildren.  Twenty- 
five  other  representative  wives  and  mothers 
of  distinguished  merit,  most  of  whom  were 
teachers  before  their  marriage,  might  here 
be  named,  if  space  would  allow,  and  a  score 
of  single  lady  teachers,  five  of  whom  have 
been  missionaries  in  foreign  lands.  In  this 
allusion  to  my  former  pupils  in  this  acad- 
emy, I  have  coupled  the  living  with  the 
dead.  Each  class  deserves  equal  recogni- 
tion and  affectionate  remembrance. 

IOI 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

"  The  joy  of  meeting  not  unmixed  with  pain. 
Where  are  the  others  ?     Voices  from  the  deep 
Caverns  of  darkness  answer  me,  'They  sleep.' 
I  name  no  names ;  instinctively  I  feel 
Each  at  some  well-remembered  grave  will  kneel, 
And  from  the  inscription  wipe  the  weeds  and  moss, 
For  every  heart  best  knoweth  its  own  loss. 
I  see  their  scattered  gravestones  gleaming  white 
Through  the  pale  dusk  of  the  impending  night ; 
O'er  all  alike  the  impartial  sunset  throws 
Its  golden  lilies  mingled  with  the  rose ; 
We  give  to  each  a  tender  thought,  and  pass 
Out  of  the  graveyards  with  their  tangled  grass, 
Unto  those  scenes  frequented  by  our  feet 
When  we  were  young  and  life  was  fresh  and  sweet." 

Never  was  there  a  better,  more  faithful 
and  loyal  class  of  students  in  one  body  than 
were  among  the  two  thousand  five  hundred 
who  were  under  our  care  at  Thetford  Acad- 
emy. Some  manifested  boyish  propensities 
and  indulged  in  boyish  tricks,  but  very  few 
were  ever  guilty  of  wilful  insubordination. 
Of  two  or  three  exceptions  I  have  spoken 
in  another  connection.  One  of  the  loyal 
rogues  told  me,  twenty  years  afterwards, 
that  I  should  not  have  caught  him  in  Par- 
son Babcock's  dooryard  blowing  a  horn  if 

IO2 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

I  had  not  worn  another  man's  hat  and 
carried  in  my  hand  a  horn  captured  from 
another  fellow.  A  second  one  was  caught 
carrying  eggs  and  dishes  from  the  store  to 
his  room,  preparatory  to  a  night  supper, 
which  he  knew  was  not  allowed.  He  was 
required  to  deposit  the  articles  in  my  office 
for  the  night,  and  the  next  morning,  in  the 
presence  of  all  observers,  to  return  them  to 
the  store  where  they  were  purchased.  At 
the  breakfast-table  this  young  man  re- 
marked to  his  fellow-students  that  "  he 
should  have  to  keep  a  hen  in  his  room  to 
lay  eggs,  as  it  cost  too  much  to  pass  them 
through  the  custom-house."  Still  another 
rogue  bore  patiently  the  mortification  of 
exposure  of  the  fact  that  I  had  pulled  him 
out  from  under  a  bed  where  he  had  at- 
tempted to  hide  himself  from  my  presence, 
leaving  his  hat  and  one  shoe  as  silent  wit- 
nesses of  his  guilt.  But  cases  like  these 
were  only  episodes  in  the  routine  of  a 
pleasant  school  life.  It  was  our  aim  in  this 
and  all  our  other  schools  to  bring  students 
under  the  influence  of  Christian  principles, 
and  to  guide  them  in  the  duties  of  the 
103 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

Christian  life  :  to  inspire  as  well  as  to  teach ; 
to  make  men  and  women  worthy  of  honor, 
and  qualified  for  usefulness  in  their  day  and 
generation. 

The  question  here  arises,  Why  should 
we,  or  why  did  we,  think  of  leaving  Thet- 
ford  Academy,  since  we  had  been  there  so 
long,  and  were  so  favorably  settled?  We 
had  no  such  purpose  in  mind,  long  before 
the  decision  was  made.  I  had  refused  two 
earnest  calls  to  the  principalship  of  other 
schools,  —  one  a  new  academy  at  Oxford, 
N.  H.,  and  the  other  a  ladies'  seminary 
at  Orange,  N.  J.  But  with  all  the  kindness 
and  co-operation  proffered  us  by  the  trus- 
tees and  leading  citizens  in  the  community 
at  Thetford,  we  were  much  annoyed  by 
the  frequent  collisions  between  another 
class  of  citizens  and  our  students.  A  large 
school  gathered  from  town  and  city  always 
contains  some  roguish  young  fellows  who 
enjoy  boyish  tricks.  Though  they  mean 
no  serious  harm,  they  want  to  see  what  will 
be  done  about  it,  when  they  remove  sign- 
boards from  their  places  on  the  cross-roads 
to  the  entrance  of  some  dooryards,  or  hang 
104 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

some  gate  taken  from  a  garden  fence  across 
the  highway,  or  remove  the  tongue  from 
the  village  church  bell  on  Saturday  night. 
And  these  rogues  always  seek  to  annoy 
those  citizens  who  have  the  least  judgment 
in  dealing  with  such  cases.  Irritated  by 
such  offences,  which  are  always  charged  to 
the  students,  with  or  without  evidence, 
these  citizens  become  very  much  enraged, 
and  declare  the  academy  in  town  a  nuisance, 
and  prosecute  a  religious  warfare  upon 
the  suspected  parties. 

A  case  to  illustrate  is  fresh  in  mind. 
One  of  these  citizens  and  a  student  chanced 
to  meet  at  the  store.  A  controversy  arose 
between  them.  The  student  had  stepped 
upon  the  citizen's  toes  on  a  previous  occa- 
sion. The  citizen  threw  the  student  into 
the  wood-box.  The  student  rallied,  and, 
seizing  a  burning  lamp  from  the  counter, 
threw  it  against  the  citizen's  head,  inflicting 
a  wound  which  required  surgical  treatment. 
The  student  sent  for  his  principal,  acknowl- 
edged to  him  the  wrong  he  had  done,  and 
expressed  a  willingness  to  do  anything 
that  he  decided  just  and  proper  to  make 
IOS 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

restitution.  But  the  injured  citizen  would 
listen  to  no  settlement  by  agreement  or 
arbitration.  The  offender  must  be  prose- 
cuted. I  urged  a  settlement  by  arbitration, 
and  pledged  that  the  young  man  should 
abide  by  the  judgment,  but  to  no  effect.  I 
then  said,  "  Proceed  with  your  prosecution. 
I  shall  defend  and  protect  my  student." 
But  when  the  sheriff  came  for  his  prisoner, 
he  was  not  there,  but  in  another  State,  on 
his  way  home  !  I  was  very  much  disgusted 
and  exhausted,  and  on  going  to  my  room, 
near  midnight,  found  among  my  letters 
which  came  in  the  last  mail,  a  call  to  take 
the  principalship  of  North  Granville  (N.  Y.) 
Ladies'  Seminary.  I  at  once  replied,  favor- 
ing the  proposition,  and  promised  to  make 
a  visit  to  investigate.  The  result  was 
the  acceptance  of  the  call  and  a  resignation 
of  my  position  at  Thetford.  There  prob- 
ably had  been  no  day  before,  during  the 
twelve  years  of  my  life  at  Thetford,  when 
I  should  have  considered  this  call  favor- 
ably. But  the  die  was  cast,  and  the  change 
had  to  be  made.  The  announcement  created 
much  excitement  in  the  school  and  neigh- 
106 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

borhood,  and  many  strong  expressions  of 
regret  followed,  even  by  those  who  had 
made  all  the  trouble. 

INCIDENTAL  OCCURRENCES 

I  HERE  recall  two  or  three  incidents  which 
occurred  during  this  period  of  my  school 
life  worthy  of  note  in  this  connection. 
On  accepting  the  position  as  principal  of 
Thetford  Academy,  I  found  myself  within 
twenty-five  miles  of  Kimball  Union 
Academy,  and  Dr.  R.,  my  old  preceptor, 
was  still  in  charge.  Our  schools  now 
came  into  sharp  competition  for  patronage. 
Thetford  at  this  time  quite  equalled  Kim- 
ball  Union  in  numbers,  and  although  our 
boys  could  not  afford  the  time  and  money 
for  the  additional  year  of  preparatory  study 
required  there,  as  many  entered  Dart- 
mouth, each  year  for  several  years,  from 
my  school  as  from  his,  and  when  gradu- 
ating they  shared  equally  the  college 
honors.  These  facts  were  naturally  dis- 
tasteful to  the  good  Doctor,  and  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  express  his  astonishment  and 
views  upon  the  subject.  This  rivalry  be- 
107 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

tween  the  two  principals  became  contagious, 
and  was  shared  by  the  students,  and  the 
two  schools  were  brought  into  collision. 
The  class  from  each  school,  on  entering 
college,  maintained  its  loyalty  and  strove 
to  excel  its  rival.  Kimball  Union  Acad- 
emy had  long  been  under  Dr.  R.'s  man- 
agement, while  the  principal  of  Thetford 
Academy  had  recently  taken  charge  of 
that  institution.  The  system  of  govern- 
ment adopted  at  Thetford  was  radically 
different  from  that  in  vogue  at  Kimball 
Union,  and  as  unchangeable  as  the  laws  of 
the  "  Medes  and  Persians."  Both  were 
mixed  schools.  The  young  women  boarded 
in  the  same  families  and  recited  in  the  same 
classes  with  the  young  men.  At  Thetford 
the  aim  of  the  principal  was  to  allow  them 
to  mingle  socially  under  proper  regulations 
and  restraints,  while  at  Kimball  Union  they 
were  forbidden  to  mingle  socially.  The 
purpose  of  the  one  was  to  regulate  their 
intercourse ;  that  of  the  other,  entirely  to 
separate  them,  except  when  at  meals  or  in 
the  classroom.  The  result  of  these  two 
methods  of  treatment  tested  the  merits  of 
1 08 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

each.  In  the  one  case,  quiet  and  good 
order  prevailed,  and  no  case  of  gross  im- 
propriety ever  occurred.  In  the  other, 
constant  irritation  and  law-breaking  brought 
the  students  into  conflict  with  the  prin- 
cipal, and  secret  interviews,  walks,  and 
rides  were  planned  and  executed.  If  they 
were  caught  the  offenders  suffered  severe 
punishment.  Cases  might  be  cited  to  illus- 
trate. The  question  of  mixed  or  separate 
schools,  which  is  the  better  system  ?  is  not 
raised  here,  but  —  How  shall  the  mixed 
academy  be  managed  ? 

While  in  charge  of  Thetford  Academy, 
I  was  accustomed  to  invite  distinguished 
lecturers  from  abroad  to  address  my  school. 
I  had  invited  Mr.  Justin  Morrill  —  then  a 
bright  young  man  living  in  Strafford,  but 
since,  for  thirty-seven  years  and  now  at  the 
age  of  eighty-eight,  an  able  and  honored 
member  of  the  United  States  Senate  from 
Vermont  —  to  deliver  a  lecture.  In  this 
case,  it  was  an  exchange.  In  compen- 
sation for  his  lecture,  I  lectured  before 
his  village  Lyceum.  I  remember  when 
he  was  introduced  to  the  audience,  he 
109 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

began  by  saying  that  he  had  heard  of  a 
clergyman  claiming  for  himself  only  mod- 
erate ability,  who,  on  exchange  of  pulpits, 
always  brought  a  peck  of  beans  to  pay 
the  balance.  He  expressed  regret  that  he 
had  forgotten  his  beans.  I  have  spoken 
with  high  commendation  and  great  interest 
of  our  Thetford  trustees,  of  the  intelli- 
gence and  culture  of  the  leading  citizens 
and  their  families  in  that  neighborhood, 
and  of  their  cordiality  towards  us,  their 
principals,  and  interest  in  our  school.  But 
every  village,  like  every  circus,  has  its 
clown,  and  we  had  one  among  our  patrons. 
He  was  no  fool,  but  rather  very  bright, 
intelligent,  and  well  disposed,  and  when 
sober  manifested  many  manly  qualities. 
He  was  a  genuine  wit.  One  warm  sum- 
mer day,  he  came  into  the  village  on  horse- 
back, and  rode  up  to  the  store.  His  horse, 
under  the  sting  of  flies  and  bees,  became 
very  restless,  and  in  his  efforts  to  fight  the 
annoying  insects,  he  kicked  his  hind  foot 
into  the  stirrup  with  the  foot  of  the  rider. 
"  Well,  well,"  said  R.,  addressing  him- 
self to  the  horse,  "  old  fellow,  if  you  are 


no 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

going  to  get  on,  I  must  get  off."  Later  on 
a  very  corpulent  man  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, weighing  at  least  three  hundred 
pounds,  was  taken  sick  and  died.  Mr.  R. 
attended  the  funeral,  and  stood  by  the 
roadside,  with  other  neighbors,  when  the 
funeral  procession  was  passing.  Turning 
to  the  person  nearest  to  him,  he  whispered, 
"  Really  I  should  prefer,  in  this  case,  to  be 
a  mourner  rather  than  a  bearer" 

NORTH  GRANVILLE  LADIES'  SEMINARY 

IN  the  summer  of  1855,  having  accepted 
the  principalship  of  North  Granville 
(N.  Y.)  Ladies'  Seminary,  we  left  Thet- 
ford,  on  many  accounts  regretfully,  to  enter 
upon  the  duties  of  this  new  position.  A 
new  school  building,  which  would  accom- 
modate the  family  of  the  principal  and 
some  fifty  boarding  pupils,  had  been  nearly 
completed,  and  a  new  school,  in  a  new 
locality,  was  now  to  be  gathered,  mainly 
through  my  efforts.  We  were  cordially 
welcomed  by  the  citizens  of  the  delightful 
village  and  the  trustees  of  the  seminary, 
and  all  seemed  much  interested  in  the 
in 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

enterprise  which  had  been  undertaken ;  but 
I  soon  found  that  the  circumstances  of  the 
situation  were  peculiar.  Instead  of  half  a 
dozen  schoolmen,  wisely  chosen  on  account 
of  their  fitness  to  manage  a  literary  institu- 
tion, I  found  a  board  of  sixteen  stock- 
holders, who  gained  their  positions  as 
trustees  by  virtue  of  their  investment,  and 
they  had  formed  this  corporation  and 
erected  this  seminary  as  a  business  specula- 
tion. They  were  reputable  men  of  means, 
good  citizens,  and  well  disposed  towards 
the  principals  and  the  school,  but  a  major- 
ity of  them  were  profoundly  ignorant  of 
their  own  rights  and  duties  growing  out 
of  their  relations  as  trustees  to  the  principal 
whom  they  had  elected  to  manage  their 
seminary,  and  of  his  duties  and  obligations 
to  the  patrons  and  pupils  of  the  school. 
Some  results  of  this  ignorance  will  appear 
in  the  course  of  my  narrative. 

The  school  opened  very  hopefully,  early 
in  September,  and  the  prospect  was  en- 
tirely satisfactory  to  all  interested.  Fresh 
accessions  of  boarders  came  in  at  the  open- 
ing of  each  new  term,  until  the  rooms 

112 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

were  all  filled.  Fully  understanding  the 
situation,  I  was  very  careful  to  explain  to 
the  trustees  my  method  of  management 
and  the  school  regulations  I  proposed  to 
adopt,  and  secured  their  entire  approval. 
But  I  soon  found  that  some  of  these 
trustees,  notwithstanding  their  approval  of 
what  I  had  proposed  to  do,  and  was  doing, 
had  expressed  dissatisfaction,  because  at 
our  evening  receptions  the  young  men  of 
the  town  and  neighboring  towns  were  not 
freely  admitted  and  introduced  to  our 
young  ladies  in  the  parlor.  They  would 
not  object  to  the  rule  on  this  point  as 
applied  to  the  general  public,  but  thought 
the  stockholders  had  a  right  to  invite  and 
introduce  whom  they  pleased.  They  had 
met  and  passed  a  vote  to  this  effect,  and 
sent  a  committee  to  me  to  ask  my  ap- 
proval of  this  amendment  to  my  laws.  I 
requested  a  hearing  before  the  board,  which 
was  granted.  I  reminded  them  that  they 
had  elected  me  to  manage  the  school,  and 
had  approved  my  regulations,  as  explained 
to  them,  upon  this  very  point.  I  said  to 
them  that  the  proposed  change  would 
8  113 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

offend  the  parents  of  our  young  ladies,  and 
might  prove  a  great  injury  to  the  school. 
Finally,  I  suggested  that  the  school  could 
not  prosper  under  the  management  of  seven- 
teen heads,  and  if  they  had  found  that  their 
principal  was  not  capable  of  governing  the 
school,  I  was  ready  to  resign  in  favor  of 
the  man  who  could  govern  it,  but  I  could 
not  allow  the  trustees  the  favor  they 
asked.  The  board  was  divided  on  the 
question  of  yielding  the  point.  I  left  them 
to  settle  the  matter  in  their  own  time  and 
way.  At  the  end  of  two  weeks,  I  was 
informed  that  the  members  loyal  to  me 
had  gained  the  victory,  and  that  the  board 
had  passed  a  resolution,  strongly  expressed, 
giving  me  unbounded  control.  This  put 
an  end  to  all  controversy  as  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  school,  and  left  me  not  only 
with  the  power,  but  also  the  responsibility 
of  its  management. 

Another  incident  occurred  during  the 
second  or  third  year  at  North  Granville 
which  excited  much  interest  at  the 
time,  and  is  worthy  of  notice  here.  I 
had  in  my  employment  a  teacher  who 
114 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

had  proved  irresponsible  both  financially 
and  morally.  This  teacher  purchased  a 
valuable  piano  of  Oliver  Ditson  and  Com- 
pany of  Boston,  on  trust  (using  my  name 
without  authority,  to  sustain  his  credit), 
promising  to  pay  by  instalments ;  but  he 
had  failed  to  make  any  payments,  as 
agreed.  He  then  mortgaged  this  instru- 
ment as  security  for  a  fifty-dollar  debt  due 
one  of  our  trustees.  I  felt  bound  to  notify 
Mr.  Ditson,  and  in  reply  he  sent  me  a 
receipted  bill  for  the  piano,  and  charged  it 
to  my  account,  directing  me  to  hold  the 
instrument  at  all  hazards.  The  trustee 
who  held  the  mortgage  sent  the  sheriff  to 
attach  the  instrument.  I  protested.  The 
officer  finally  said  to  me,  if  I  would  give 
him  my  check  for  fifty  dollars,  as  proof  of 
my  sincerity  and  pledge  to  meet  him  in 
court,  to  settle  the  ownership  of  the  piano, 
he  would  not  insist  upon  its  removal.  I 
did  so,  not  suspecting  that  the  officer  was  a 
rascal,  as  he  proved  to  be.  But  instead  of 
holding  the  check  as  he  promised,  as  a 
pledge  of  good  faith,  he  at  once  gave  it 
to  the  trustee  to  whom  the  teacher  owed 
"5 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

fifty  dollars,  in  payment  of  the  debt.  The 
check  was  drawn  on  my  bank  at  Salem, 
twenty  miles  away.  As  soon  as  I  learned 
the  facts  in  the  case,  I  sent  a  messenger 
to  stop  payment.  The  trustee  sent  another 
messenger  to  collect  it,  but  my  messenger 
reached  the  bank  first,  and  payment  was 
refused.  I  then  told  my  friend,  the  trustee, 
that  if  he  undertook  to  collect  the  amount 
on  that  check  he  would  regret  it  after- 
wards. He  finally  gave  me  the  check,  but 
still  determined  to  secure  the  piano  which 
was  in  the  seminary. 

A  lawyer  in  the  neighborhood,  who  was 
one  of  my  patrons,  came  to  the  rescue.  He 
proposed  to  take  the  case  in  hand  and  get 
possession  of  the  piano,  relying  for  his  fee 
upon  what  he  could  get  out  of  the  sale  of 
the  instrument  above  the  fifty  dollars  due 
the  trustee.  On  these  terms  he  was  em- 
ployed as  prosecuting  counsel. 

It  was  vacation  at  the  seminary,  and 
one  morning  the  lawyer  patron  called  at 
my  office  and  paid  my  bill  for  the  tuition 
of  his  daughter,  and  then  said  to  me,  "  I 
am  instructed  to  take  possession  of  a 
116 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

piano  belonging  to  your  teacher,  which 
is  in  the  seminary."  I  replied,  "  My 
teacher  does  not  own  any  piano  in  the 
seminary."  "  I  know  better,"  he  answered, 
and  started  for  the  room  where  the  piano 
was  placed.  I  stepped  in  ahead  of  him  and 
locked  the  door.  He  broke  it  open  and 
placed  an  attachment  upon  the  piano, 
and  told  me  he  would  soon  return  with 
help  to  remove  it.  But  when  he  came,  he 
found  a  strong  force  of  men  in  the  room, 
who  disputed  his  right  to  remove  the 
piano.  The  struggle  lasted  all  day,  and 
at  night  the  lawyer's  party  acknowledged 
defeat  and  retired. 

At  this  point  I  ordered  this  piano  to  be 
sent  that  night  to  Salem  depot,  and  shipped 
to  Boston,  and  the  next  morning  I  sent  a 
rented  piano  to  our  depot,  belonging  also 
to  Oliver  Ditson  and  Company,  believing 
that  the  prosecuting  lawyer  would  see  it 
pass  his  house  and  go  for  it,  with  the  im- 
pression that  this  was  the  identical  instru- 
ment claimed  under  the  mortgage.  The 
strategy  was  effective,  and  a  large  force  was 
sent  to  capture  the  prize.  We  met  them 
117 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

with  a  show  of  force,  to  defend  the  prop- 
erty, but  intentionally  allowed  them  to  tri- 
umph. They  took  the  old  piano  from 
the  depot  under  protest,  and  drove  up 
through  the  village  shouting  triumphantly 
over  their  supposed  victory,  but  when 
they  landed  it  at  the  house  of  the  trustee, 
they  discovered  that  they  had  unlawfully 
taken  a  piano  admitted  to  belong  to  an- 
other party,  and  carried  it  back  to  the 
depot,  where  it  remained  six  months. 

I  at  once  sued,  and  put  the  case  into  the 
Supreme  Court.  The  whole  county  was  in 
commotion  over  the  affair.  This  struggle 
between  the  preceptor  of  the  seminary  and 
the  pettifogger  had  been  announced  in  the 
papers,  and  the  result  was  known  to  the 
lawyers  at  the  court  then  in  session,  and 
my  unfortunate  lawyer  patron  fared  hard 
under  criticism.  At  the  end  of  six  months, 
he  came  and  begged  for  a  settlement,  which 
I  accepted  on  condition  of  payment  by 
him  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  cost 
and  damage. 

Thus  peace  was  restored,  the  trustee 
smiled  upon  me  submissively,  and  my 
118 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

patron  returned  his  daughter  to  my  school. 
Mr.  Oliver  Ditson  was  greatly  amused  by 
the  whole  transaction,  and  proposed  to 
publish  a  piece  of  music  entitled  "  The 
Squabble  Galop,"  dedicated  to  Lawyer 
Spencer ;  but  he  did  not  live  to  carry  out 
his  purpose. 

Still  another  incident  which  occurred 
while  I  was  in  charge  of  North  Gran- 
ville  Ladies'  Seminary  is  fresh  in  memory. 
Its  recital  will  lead  to  the  discussion  of  an 
important  and  practical  school  question. 
Dr.  Joseph  E.  King,  then  a  young  man, 
who  had  been  my  rival  in  Vermont,  as 
principal  of  Newbury  Academy,  twenty 
miles  from  Thetford,  went  to  New  York 
State  before  I  did,  to  take  charge  of  Fort 
Edward  Seminary,  —  a  very  large,  mixed 
boarding-school.  My  school  at  North 
Granville,  forty  miles  away,  was  exclu- 
sively for  young  ladies.  Soon  after  I  had 
opened  my  school,  Principal  King  un- 
masked his  battery,  and  gave  me  and  my 
system  a  broadside  through  the  public 
press.  "Where  shall  we  educate  our 
daughters  ? "  was  the  question  which  he 
119 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

undertook  to  answer,  in  a  full-page  article, 
in  a  large-sized  weekly  paper.  Of  course 
his  conclusion  was,  that  all  parents  should 
send  their  daughters  to  Fort  Edward,  to 
his  model  seminary,  and  not  to  North 
Granville  to  come  under  the  "  exclusive  and 
aristocratic  system  of  education"  adopted 
there.  His  main  argument,  I  remem- 
ber, was  based  on  the  "  Heaven-ordained 
family,"  in  which  our  wise  Creator  pur- 
posed to  educate  together  the  brothers 
and  sisters.  He  insisted  that  the  school, 
which  is  an  expansion  of  the  family, 
should  be  modelled  after  the  same  plan.  I 
at  once  answered  the  article,  and  caused  the 
publication  in  every  newspaper  in  the 
county. 

To  his  main  argument,  I  replied  that 
there  is  a  wide  difference  between  the 
home  with  a  half  dozen  children,  of  differ- 
ent ages,  under  the  watchful  care  of  anx- 
ious parents,  and  a  boarding-school  like 
Fort  Edward,  having  from  eight  hundred 
to  a  thousand  students  of  mature  age, 
gathered  from  the  cities,  including,  doubt- 
less, many  whose  character  would  not  bear 

120 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

investigation.  In  his  rejoinder  he  took  up 
my  plea  of  moral  danger,  and  insisted  that 
it  had  no  force,  as  applied  to  Fort  Edward 
Seminary,  because  he  had  made  ample 
provision  to  guard  against  this  danger. 
His  students,  he  assured  his  readers,  occu- 
pied distinct  departments,  one  for  the  girls 
and  the  other  for  the  boys,  and  they  were 
separated  by  a  brick  wall,  with  no  entrance 
doors,  and,  on  the  outside,  during  the  hours 
of  darkness,  an  ample  police  force  was 
employed  to  guard  the  premises.  In  my 
rejoinder,  I  commended  his  vigilance  and 
painstaking,  but  ridiculed  his  model  family  ; 
the  idea  of  an  old  farmhouse  with  a  brick 
wall  running  through  the  middle,  and  a 
policeman  on  the  outside  during  the  night, 
to  keep  the  brothers  and  sisters  apart ! 

The  discussion  continued  six  months,  with 
increasing  interest  in  the  community ;  and 
the  result,  as  affecting  my  interest,  was  a 
large  increase  of  attendance  at  my  school ; 
and  the  climax  of  the  discussion  was  an 
object  lesson  published  in  the  same  papers 
that  had  printed  our  articles,  revealing  the 
fact  that  one  of  Fort  Edward's  teachers 

121 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

had  been  expelled  for  an  offence  grow- 
ing out  of  the  peculiar  relations  of  this 
monstrous  family.  Years  afterwards,  Dr. 
King's  school  building  was  burned  to  the 
ground,  and  in  its  place,  under  his  direc- 
tion, there  was  erected  a  fine  school  build- 
ing, exclusively  for  young  women,  and  Dr. 
King,  the  able  and  venerable  principal,  is 
still  in  charge  (1898).  That  this  dis- 
cussion was  not  personal,  the  following 
friendly  note,  recently  received  from  the 
genial  Doctor,  will  show :  — 

FORT  EDWARD,  N.  Y.,  July  6,  1897. 
MY  DEAR  DR.  ORCUTT,  —  From  the  height 
of  my  lofty  pyramid  of  friends,  I  reach  you  my 
hand  in  greeting  and  congratulations.  It  is  in- 
spiring now  and  then  to  see  a  Nestor  still  fighting 
in  the  front  ranks.  Your  splendid  persistence  is 
a  powerful  object-lesson  to  the  coming  genera- 
tion. In  good  health  and  with  a  strong  heart,  I 
am, 

Most  truly  yours, 

JOSEPH  E.  KING. 

The  question  here  naturally  arises  which 
of  these  two  systems,  the  mixed  or  the 
separate  school,  should  prevail  ?  With  my 

122 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

fifteen  years'  experience  in  managing  mixed 
schools,  and  twenty-five  years  at  the  head 
of  ladies'  seminaries,  I  have  formed  a 
decided  opinion  on  the  subject,  which  I 
may  here  properly  express.  My  decision 
is  that  in  schools  of  the  primary  grade,  — 
indeed  in  all  public  schools  whose  pupils 
come  from  their  homes,  or  board  with 
friends,  —  there  is  not  only  no  objection  to 
co-education,  but  much  in  its  favor.  In 
academies,  where  students  find  homes  in 
good  families,  and  the  school  is  under 
efficient  management,  experience  and  ob- 
servation confirm  the  opinion  that  the 
advantages  and  disadvantages  nearly  balance 
each  other.  In  the  boarding  academy  or 
seminary,  especially  where  large  numbers 
of  students  of  mature  age  are  associated, 
the  mixed  system  is  decidedly  objection- 
able. In  the  college,  as  a  rule,  the  mixed 
system  is  still  more  objectionable.  When 
young  women  living  near  a  college,  and 
wishing  to  pursue  that  regular  collegiate 
course  of  study,  make  application,  there  is 
no  objection  to  admitting  them.  But  the 
absolute  union  of  the  college  for  young 
123 


- 

Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

women  with  the  college  for  young  men 
would  prove  a  serious  disadvantage  to  both 
classes.  To  unite  Wellesley  with  Williams, 
Smith  with  Dartmouth,  or  Vassar  with  Cor- 
nell, would  be  objectionable  on  the  score  of 
expense.  As  buildings  could  not  be  re- 
moved, the  cost  of  the  outfit  would  be  at 
least  double,  and  the  expense  of  instruction 
would  not  be  diminished.  While  it  is  ad- 
mitted, yea  claimed,  that  young  women  are 
quite  equal  to  the  young  men  they  would 
meet  in  the  classes,  in  scholarly  ability,  and 
would  compete  with  them  successfully  for 
college  honors,  yet  the  education  of  the 
young  woman  for  her  sphere  of  life  requires, 
to  some  extent,  a  different  course  of  studies; 
and  this  fact  adds  much  to  the  objections 
to  college  co-education.  At  our  colleges 
established  exclusively  for  women,  the  course 
of  studies  is  adapted  to  their  wants ;  and  at 
our  colleges  established  exclusively  for  young 
men,  the  course  is  suited  to  the  train- 
ing they  need  to  fit  them  for  their  life 
work.  To  unite  them  would  jeopardize 
the  interest  of  both  parties,  resulting  in 
no  additional  benefit  to  either;  and  it 
124 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

will  never  be  done.  The  discussion  of 
the  main  question  will  be  continued,  but 
the  union  of  these  colleges  will  not  be  the 
result.  There  are  now  four  hundred  and 
fifty-one  colleges  and  universities  in  this 
country,  and  one  hundred  and  forty-three 
schools  of  higher  learning,  having  thirty 
thousand  students,  open  to  women  only. 
Forty-one  colleges  are  absolutely  closed  to 
women.  These  may,  ere  long,  admit  a  few 
women,  as  a  matter  of  accommodation,  as 
others  have  done  ;  but  will  men  ever  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  colleges  established  for 
women  only  ?  One  hundred  and  forty-three 
institutions  are  closed  to  men,  against  forty- 
one  closed  to  women.  I  have  not  here 
discussed  the  moral  side  of  the  question, 
but  there  is,  as  I  have  intimated,  moral 
danger  in  co-education,  as  arranged  in 
some  large  boarding-schools. 

While  en  route  from  Thetford  to  North 
Granville  my  dear  wife,  who  had  shared 
with  me  the  labors  and  trials  of  my 
academic  life,  so  far,  expressed  the  fear  that 
I  had  made  a  mistake  in  giving  up  my 
position  where  I  had  young  men  in  train- 
125 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

ing  for  college  and  for  professional  life, 
for  one  exclusively  devoted  to  the  educa- 
tion of  young  women.  I  replied  that  I 
thought  that  I  had  made  no  mistake,  as 
the  mothers  and  teachers  of  to-day  will  be 
the  educators  of  the  next  generation  of 
men  and  women,  and  so  on  through  all 
time.  I  remembered  the  struggles  of 
Mrs.  Mary  Hart  Willard,  in  her  girlhood, 
to  secure  an  education  for  herself,  and  her 
heroic  and  successful  efforts,  in  mature  life, 
to  establish  and  maintain  a  ladies'  seminary 
at  Troy,  New  York.  She  was  the  pioneer 
in  this  noble  work.  I  recalled  the  marvel- 
lous struggle  of  Miss  Mary  Lyon,  who,  after 
serving  an  apprenticeship  as  an  assistant 
in  Mrs  Grant's  School  for  girls,  in  Ipswich, 
Massachusetts,  opened  "  Mount  Holyoke 
Female  Seminary,"  and  maintained  there  a 
school  of  high  order  to  the  day  of  her 
death ;  that  that  seminary  has  grown  into 
a  first  class  college,  and  that  under  its 
inspiring  influence  Vassar,  Wellesley,  and 
Smith  Colleges  have  sprung  up,  all  labor- 
ing earnestly  for  the  higher  education  of 
woman.  I  realized  that  the  managers  of 
126 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

these  institutions  have  hold  of  the  lever 
that  moves  the  world  ;  and  I  was  willing  to 
contribute  my  share  of  effort  and  influence 
for  the  advancement  of  this  noble  course. 
I  have  never  regretted  that  the  last  twenty- 
five  years  of  my  school  life  as  preceptor 
were  spent  at  the  head  of  seminaries 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  education  of 
young  women. 

The  course  of  studies  adopted  at  this 
school  for  graduation,  as  at  my  other 
schools,  was  broad  and  thorough.  I  made 
provision  for  the  study  of  the  ornamental 
branches,  such  as  music,  drawing,  and  paint- 
ing, but  insisted  that  they  were  only  of 
secondary  importance,  and  that  the  solid 
and  disciplinary  studies  alone  could  lay  the 
foundation  for  genuine  scholarship  and 
practical  ability.  I  realized  that  only  solid 
substances  will  take  an  ornamental  polish. 
I  have  spent  many  hours  in  attempting  to 
convince  foolish  mothers  and  would-be- 
lazy  school-girls  that  a  mere  smattering 
or  even  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
ornamental  branches,  without  the  solid,  and 
with  a  limited  knowledge  of  common  Eng- 
127 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

lish  branches,  with  no  ability  to  write  a 
respectable  letter,  is  not  an  education.  A 
full  course  of  mathematics,  including  trigono- 
metry, the  classics,  and  literature,  with  one 
or  more  of  the  modern  languages,  the 
natural  sciences,  mental  and  moral  phil- 
osophy, and  a  thorough  course  of  history 
and  English  literature,  are  as  important  for 
young  women  as  for  young  men. 

Four  large  classes  graduated  from  North 
Granville  Ladies'  Seminary  during  the  five 
years  of  my  administration.  These  gradu- 
ates have  made  a  good  record  as  wives  and 
teachers,  and  some  of  them  have  gained 
high  distinction.  Most  of  the  teachers 
employed  in  this,  as  well  as  in  my  other 
seminaries,  were  educated  in  my  schools. 
They  ranked  high,  and  were  very  success- 
ful. I  recall  three  of  special  ability  to 
handle  classes :  Miss  Lucy  Brown,  as  a 
teacher  of  mathematics,  was  a  fine  scholar 
and  "  apt  to  teach,"  in  a  remarkable  degree. 
She  died  too  early,  if  judged  from  a  human 
point  of  view.  Mrs.  Eliza  (Du  Bois)  Frost, 
in  English  branches,  who  is  the  widow  of 
the  lamented  Prof.  C.  P.  Frost,  for  many 
128 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

years  at  the  head  of  the  Medical  College 
at  Dartmouth.  Her  two  sons  are  now 
professors  in  Dartmouth  College.  Mrs. 
Mary  (Cobb)  Hayes,  for  nine  years  a 
prominent  teacher  in  my  seminary,  and 
since,  for  more  than  twenty  years,  the 
principal  of  the  best  family  boarding  and 
day  school  in  the  city  of  Boston.  She 
graduated  from  North  Granville  Ladies' 
Seminary. 

My  engagement  under  this  contract  had 
expired,  and  we  had  decided  to  seek  a  new 
field  of  labor,  though  earnestly  urged  by 
the  trustees  to  renew  the  contract  and  re- 
main. Professor  Charles  F.  Dowd,  the 
originator  of  the  change  of  time,  as  now 
indicated  in  the  East  and  West,  and  at 
present  and  for  many  years  principal  of 
Temple  Grove  Ladies'  Seminary  at  Sara- 
toga Springs,  New  York,  was  elected 
principal  in  my  place. 

GLENWOOD  LADIES'  SEMINARY 

IN  July  of   1860,   we    removed  to    West 
Brattleboro,   Vermont,   to   make   ready  to 
open     a    ladies'    seminary    as    a     private 
9  129 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

enterprise.  I  had  leased  the  old  Brattle- 
boro  Academy,  with  a  boarding  hall  con- 
nected, and  erected  a  new  hall,  having  the 
capacity  for  some  sixty  more  boarders. 
One  hundred  boarders  could  now  be  well 
accommodated  with  rooms  in  both  halls,  and 
at  our  long  tables.  I  had  furnished  both  of 
these  halls,  and  graded  the  grounds  taste- 
fully, building  in  the  centre  of  a  beautiful 
lawn  a  fountain  which  was  constantly  throw- 
ing into  the  air  pure  spring  water  from 
the  hillside.  I  had  expended  in  the  entire 
outfit  some  twenty  thousand  dollars,  and 
had  named  the  institution  Glenwood  Ladies' 
Seminary,  —  a  name  suggested  by  the  charm- 
ing scenery  by  which  it  was  surrounded. 

I  now  selected  my  board  of  trustees  and 
visitors,  such  men  as  were  sure  to  help,  and 
not  trouble  me.  I  sent  out  my  circulars 
announcing  a  full  board  of  teachers  for 
every  department  of  school  work,  and 
advertised  through  the  press  the  new  enter- 
terprise.  I  employed  a  new  method  of 
free  advertising  not  on  the  program  of 
advertising  agencies. 

A    Brattleboro    editor    had  taken  great 
130 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

pains  to  describe  and  extol  this  new  enter- 
prise in  the  town,  and,  in  alluding  to  the 
fountain  on  the  lawn,  he  declared  that  it 
would  throw  water  sixty  feet  high!  A 
Burlington  (Vermont)  editor  was  very 
sceptical,  and  forcibly  expressed  his  dis- 
belief in  the  statement ;  but  the  Brattleboro 
quill-man  insisted,  and  challenged  investiga- 
tion. This  discussion  lasted  for  several 
weeks,  during  which  all  the  prominent  at- 
tractive features  and  advantages  of  the  new 
school  were  laid  before  the  public.  All 
these  sources  of  information,  with  the  sound 
of  the  hammer  upon  the  new  seminary 
hall,  had  given  Glenwood  Ladies'  Seminary 
great  notoriety,  and  the  citizens  of  the  whole 
town  were  waiting  with  impatient  interest 
to  witness  the  result.  Some  were  hopeful 
that  we  should  not  be  disappointed,  and 
others  very  sceptical.  Judge  Clarke,  one 
of  the  oldest  citizens  of  the  town,  and  a 
trustee  of  Brattleboro  Academy,  which  I 
had  leased,  reminded  me  one  day  that  they 
had  for  many  years  furnished  the  old 
academy  and  quite  a  large  boarding  hall, 
but  it  had  never  been  half  filled.  He  did 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

not  understand,  he  said,  why  I  had  spent 
six  thousand  dollars  in  erecting  a  new  hall 
before  I  knew  that  the  old  one  would  not 
fully  accommodate  all  my  boarding  pupils. 
I  asked  him  to  wait,  and  I  would  show 
him  reasons  for  my  action. 

September  came,  and  the  day  appointed 
for  opening  the  school.  I  went  to  the 
village  depot  to  meet  any  students  and 
teachers  who  might  come  on  the  evening 
train.  On  inquiry,  I  was  told  that  the  train 
was  late,  and  that  a  telegram  had  announced 
the  reason,  viz. :  "  Three  carloads  of  young 
women  were  at  Bellows  Falls  on  their  way 
to  Glenwood  Seminary." 

Before  the  end  of  that  week,  every  avail- 
able room  in  both  halls  was  occupied,  and 
twelve  boarders  had  taken  rooms  in  a 
neighboring  cottage.  Counting  the  day- 
students,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
young  ladies  and  twelve  teachers  were  in 
their  places,  and  the  school  was  organized 
and  ready  for  work. 

I  had  re-engaged  several  of  the  North 
Granville  teachers,  and  some  forty  young 
ladies  from  that  school  had  followed  them 
132 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

to  Glenwood.  Before  the  end  of  the  first 
year  Glenwood  Ladies'  Seminary  was  as 
well  known  throughout  the  country  as 
many  older  schools,  and  the  young  ladies, 
returning  home  for  vacations,  were  sure  to 
bring  back  with  them  as  many  new  stu- 
dents as  necessary  to  fill  the  vacancies 
caused  by  the  retiring  of  individuals  and 
the  graduating  of  classes.  All  that  was 
now  necessary,  in  providing  for  the  future, 
was  to  make  sure  that  a  good  school  was 
maintained,  and  proper  care  taken  of  the 
business  management. 

At  North  Granville  Seminary,  I  had 
given  all  the  attention  that  could  be  given, 
without  a  gymnasium,  to  physical  culture. 
The  best  substitute  for  the  marching 
drill  was  the  family  dance  in  the  public 
parlor,  which  was  thoroughly  enjoyed,  and 
of  great  practical  benefit.  At  Glenwood 
this  long  neglected  and  important  branch 
of  education  was  made  prominent.  A  fine 
hall  for  the  practice  of  gymnastics  was  ready 
for  use,  and  the  daily  exercise  was  required 
of  all  the  boarders.  Every  intelligent  edu- 
cator in  the  nation  has  always  known  that 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

a  sound  body  is  a  necessary  condition  of  a 
sound  mind,  yet  I  am  not  aware  that  sys- 
tematic physical  culture  was  introduced 
into  any  school,  private  or  public,  in  New 
York,  Vermont,  or  New  Hampshire,  until 
I  introduced  it  into  my  schools  in  these 
States. 

This  exercise  is  properly  called  gym- 
nastics, and  the  term  is  equally  applicable 
when  applied  to  the  development  of  mind 
or  the  body.  To  the  body,  it  gives  health, 
gracefulness,  ease  and  steadiness  of  carriage, 
strength,  elasticity,  and  quickness  of  move- 
ment, self-control,  and  endurance.  To  the 
mind,  it  imparts  a  healthful  vigor  to  every 
faculty,  as  it  is  developed  through  exercise 
in  the  process  of  educational  training. 
These  facts  are  now  everywhere  recognized 
by  intelligent  educators. 

For  eight  years,  a  large  class  of  young 
ladies,  having  completed  the  prescribed 
course  of  study,  graduated  each  year  from 
Glenwood,  and  passed  out  into  the  busy 
world  to  engage  in  their  life-work.  Dur- 
ing the  fifth  year,  an  earnest  call  came  to 
me  from  the  trustees  of  Tilden  Ladies' 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

Seminary,  at  West  Lebanon,  New  Hamp- 
shire, to  accept  the  principalship  of  that 
institution.  I  declined  to  consider  it,  on 
the  ground  that  I  had  already  a  large  and 
prosperous  school  on  my  hands.  The  call 
was  soon  repeated,  with  the  offer  that  I 
might  retain  my  school  at  Glenwood,  and 
conduct  Tilden  in  my  own  way,  with  perfect 
freedom.  I  reconsidered  my  decision,  and 
in  view  of  the  overflow  of  students  at 
Glenwood,  and  some  other  circumstances, 
I  decided  to  accept  the  position. 

TILDEN  LADIES'  SEMINARY 

TILDEN  Seminary  had  been  in  operation 
ten  years,  under  the  management  of  three 
principals,  the  last  of  whom  had  made  so 
complete  a  failure  that  not  one  student  was 
left  in  the  school  to  tell  the  tale  of  the  dis- 
aster. The  building,  delightfully  located 
on  an  estate  of  four  acres,  on  the  New 
Hampshire  side  of  the  Connecticut  River, 
was  erected  mainly  through  the  munificence 
of  Mr.  William  Tilden  of  New  York,  as  a 
memorial  to  his  birthplace.  It  contained 
a  pleasant  parlor  and  schoolroom,  and 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

would  accommodate  the  family  of  the  prin- 
cipal and  some  fifty  boarding  pupils.  I 
took  a  lease  of  the  property,  and  proceeded 
to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  to 
open  the  school  in  the  spring  of  1865,  in 
connection  with  Glenwood,  already  well 
established. 

As  I  have  intimated,  my  family  had  been 
broken  up.  A  new  life  had  opened  up 
before  me,  and  I  decided  to  make  Tilden 
my  future  home,  taking  with  me,  as  my 
wife,  Miss  Ellen  L.  Dana  of  Poughkeepsie, 
New  York,  who  had  been  one  of  my 
teachers  at  Glenwood.  It  would  not  be 
possible  to  express  in  words  the  fidelity  and 
loyalty  with  which  she  performed  the  duties 
of  the  responsible  position  which  she  as- 
sumed at  Tilden,  as  preceptress,  nor  how 
large  a  part  she  has  played  as  a  beloved 
helpmeet  and  companion  in  whatever  suc- 
cess I  may  have  attained. 

Putting  the  building  in  order,  I  issued 
circulars  announcing  a  board  of  ten  instruc- 
tors, making  complete  provision  for  every 
department  of  a  full  and  well-organized 
school,  though  no  school  was  yet  assured. 
136 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

In  April,  the  school  opened  with  some 
seventy-five  students,  including  the  day 
scholars,  and  ere  long  all  the  rooms  were 
occupied  by  boarders.  I  had  now  the 
charge  of  two  ladies'  seminaries,  in  two 
States,  and  seventy  miles  apart,  with  twenty 
associate  and  assistant  teachers,  and  about 
two  hundred  lady  students ;  and  I  divided 
my  time  between  the  two  institutions,  as 
circumstances  required. 

Mr.  Tilden,  the  founder  of  the  seminary 
which  bears  his  name,  attended  the  first 
commencement,  and,  becoming  interested  in 
the  manifestly  improved  condition  and 
prospects  of  the  school,  and  realizing  the 
need  of  more  and  better  accommodations, 
decided  to  appropriate  twenty  thousand 
dollars  to  add  two  spacious  wings  to  the 
building.  These  wings  were  finished,  fur- 
nished, and  equipped  for  use  in  process  of 
time.  A  steeple  and  bell  had  already  been 
placed  upon  the  old  building,  and  some 
two  hundred  evergreens,  transplanted  from 
the  nursery,  ornamented  the  grounds. 
Three  thousand  dollars  had  been  contrib- 
uted by  the  Tilden  family  to  replenish  the 
137 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

library  and  laboratory.  Four  years  of  the 
school's  life  under  the  present  administra- 
tion had  now  nearly  expired,  and  the  day 
was  appointed  for  the  annual  commence- 
ment and  dedication  of  the  new  building. 

COMMENCEMENT  AND  DEDICATION 

THIS  was  an  occasion  of  great  interest 
to  the  friends  of  Tilden  Seminary.  The 
exercises  opened  Sabbath  morning,  July  12, 
1869,  in  the  village  church,  with  the  bac- 
calaureate sermon  to  the  graduating  class,  by 
Rev.  William  S.  Palmer,  D.D.,  a  former  pupil 
of  the  principal  while  at  Thetford  Academy. 
His  text  was,  "  That  our  daughters  may  be 
as  corner-stones  polished  after  the  similitude 
of  a  palace,"  a  passage  of  Scripture  which 
had  been  used  as  a  motto  in  our  catalogue. 
The  graduating  class  numbered  seventeen 
young  ladies,  representing  eight  different 
States.  The  examinations  covered  three 
full  days,  and  received  marked  attention. 
The  gymnastic  exercise  in  the  new  gym- 
nasium, conducted  by  my  daughter,  Miss 
Mary  F.  Orcutt,  the  teacher  in  that  depart- 
ment for  six  years,  was  attended  by  more 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

than  four  hundred  spectators.  The  dedica- 
tory exercise  in  the  church  was  fully  attended 
by  an  appreciative  audience.  The  church 
was  tastefully  ornamented  with  evergreen. 
Over  the  front  of  the  stage  was  suspended 
the  class  motto,  Finis  Coronat  Opus.  At 
the  rear  of  the  platform  was  placed  a  ped- 
estal on  which  stood  the  bust  of  Mr.  Tilden, 
draped  in  black,  with  vases  of  white  flowers 
on  either  side.  Above  this  was  suspended 
the  inscription  in  large  letters,  "  OUR  LA- 
MENTED BENEFACTOR."  This  motto  was 
an  expression  of  the  feeling  of  sadness  and 
regret  felt  by  the  audience  that  Mr.  Tilden 
could  not  have  been  spared  to  witness  this 
crowning  glory  of  his  benevolent  enter- 
prise. 

Colonel  J.  D.  Hosley,  one  of  the  trustees, 
and  chairman  of  the  building  committee, 
made  an  address  and  delivered  the  new 
charter  and  keys  to  Mr.  William  Tilden 
Blodgett,  a  nephew  of  the  founder,  and 
his  representative  on  this  occasion.  Mr. 
Blodgett  made  an  interesting  address  in 
transferring  the  charter  and  keys  to  Presi- 
dent Smith  of  Dartmouth  College,  who 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

represented  the  trustees.  Dr.  Smith  re- 
sponded in  an  appropriate  and  eloquent 
address.  The  singing  of  an  original  dedi- 
cation hymn  closed  these  exercises.  A  large 
audience  gathered  in  the  church  in  the 
evening  to  listen  to  an  address  by  Presi- 
dent James  B.  Angell,  LL.D.  (recently 
appointed  by  President  McKinley  as  min- 
ister to  Turkey),  the  reading  of  the  report 
by  the  chairman  of  the  examining  commit- 
tee, Rev.  C.  C.  Parker,  of  Gorham,  Maine, 
and  the  address  of  the  principal  in  conferring 
the  diplomas  upon  the  graduating  class. 
The  singing  of  the  class  hymn,  composed 
by  one  of  its  members,  closed  the  exercises 
of  the  week  and  day. 

This  triumphant  commencement,  reveal- 
ing as  it  did  the  great  improvements  which 
had  been  made  in  the  seminary,  and  the 
increased  facilities  now  offered,  attracted 
public  attention,  and  ere  long  the  wings  as 
well  as  the  body  of  the  new  seminary  were 
filled  with  boarders.  The  new  gymnasium 
gave  opportunity  for  perfecting  the  arrange- 
ments for  systematic  physical  culture,  and 
it  was  improved.  This  new  department  of 
140 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

instruction  attracted  special  attention.  In 
course  of  the  three  years  that  the  principal 
was  a  member  of  the  General  Court,  from 
Lebanon,  a  large  delegation  from  that  body, 
on  their  way  to  Dartmouth  College,  called 
at  Tilden  to  witness  the  gymnastic  drill 
of  the  young  ladies,  and  expressed  great 
satisfaction. 

My  early  adoption  and  extensive  use  of 
Dr.  Dio  Lewis's  system  of  gymnastics  led 
to  a  personal  acquaintance  with  its  author. 
He  was  the  originator  of  this  system,  and 
an  enthusiast  upon  the  subject,  and  he 
infused  his  own  spirit  into  all  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact.  The  subject  was  then 
new,  and  attracted  much  public  interest  and 
the  usual  amount  of  criticism  from  bigoted 
conservatives  which  every  new  departure 
from  old  methods  is  doomed  to  meet.  All- 
wise  fathers  and  conceited  educators  told  us 
that  their  boys  and  girls  had  enough  of 
physical  exercise  on  the  farm,  in  the  work- 
shop, and  at  their  homes,  and  needed  no 
more ;  that  their  time  in  school  should  be 
devoted  to  study,  and  that  already  too  many 
subjects  were  introduced  into  the  school- 
Mi 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

room.  Horrified  mothers  cried  out  in 
alarm  against  the  indelicacy  and  impropriety 
of  the  gymnastic  suit  required  for  their 
daughters  in  practice.  The  townspeople 
nicknamed  this  exercise  the  "  Orthodox 
dancing  school."  Still  Dr.  Lewis  persisted 
in  the  necessity  of  systematic  physical  devel- 
opment of  the  human  body,  by  such  a  drill 
as  his  system  required,  for  health  and  vigor. 
Schools  for  instructing  teachers  to  teach 
gymnastics  were  established.  Harvard  and 
Yale  and  Amherst  and  Dartmouth  soon  em- 
ployed gymnastic  teachers,  and  required  reg- 
ular gymnastic  exercises.  The  subject  was 
discussed  at  our  educational  meetings  and, 
ere  long,  all  the  better  academies  and  semina- 
ries in  the  land  introduced  physical  culture 
as  a  regular  school  exercise.  Modified 
systems  have  been  introduced,  and,  to-day, 
no  branch  of  education  is  more  popular  or 
more  in  demand  than  gymnastics  for  every 
grade  of  school,  from  the  kindergarten  to 
the  college.  Many  features  of  Dr.  Dio 
Lewis's  system  yet  hold  the  public  favor, 
and  are  retained  in  practice. 

The  beneficial  influence  of  this  exercise 
142 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

upon  the  health  of  students  was  demon- 
strated and  recognized  during  the  few  years 
of  our  Tilden  school  life.  Professor  Phelps, 
then  at  the  head  of  the  medical  department 
of  Dartmouth  College,  came  to  Tilden  to 
visit  his  daughter  and  niece,  then  in  the 
school.  During  an  interview  with  the 
principal,  he  very  properly  took  occasion 
to  suggest  the  great  danger  to  which  the 
young  ladies  were  exposed,  with  no  motive 
or  opportunity  for  physical  activity,  and 
proceeded  to  prescribe  a  course  of  treat- 
ment to  prevent  the  inevitable  evil  results. 
The  young  ladies  should  not  be  required 
to  study  too  many  hours,  should  be  regular 
in  their  habits  of  eating  and  sleeping,  and 
should  have  at  least  three  hours'  exercise 
daily  in  the  open  air.  I  listened  to  him 
with  attention  and  interest,  and  replied  that 
I  fully  appreciated  the  wisdom  and  im- 
portance of  his  suggestions  and  instructions, 
and  that  I  had  given  much  attention  to  the 
health  of  my  two  large  families  at  Tilden 
and  Glenwood.  In  addition  to  insisting 
upon  regularity  of  habits  and  free  exercise 
in  the  open  air,  I  required  a  daily,  sys- 
M3 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

tematic  drill  in  gymnastics,  and,  to  show 
him  the  results  of  my  treatment,  I  told  him 
that  during  one  year  of  school-life  experi- 
ence with  these  two  families,  numbering  at 
least  one  hundred  and  fifty  boarders,  the 
services  of  a  physician  had  not  been  required 
in  a  single  instance.  He  seemed  greatly 
surprised  and  interested,  and  said  evidently 
I  did  not  need  his  advice  or  prescriptions. 

This  duplicate  school  arrangement,  in 
managing  Glenwood  and  Tilden  Seminaries, 
lasted  three  years.  At  the  end  of  this  time, 
finding  the  care  and  labor  excessive  and 
somewhat  burdensome,  I  sold  out  my 
interest  at  Glenwood,  but  continued  my 
school  at  Tilden  for  twelve  years,  making 
fifteen  years  from  the  time  I  began  here, 
with  continued  prosperity.  One  thousand 
young  ladies  had  been  enrolled  at  Tilden, 
and  fifteen  classes  had  graduated. 

Thirty-eight  years  had  now  elapsed  since 
I  commenced  my  academic  life.  During 
this  time,  from  Thetford,  North  Granville, 
Glenwood,  and  Tilden,  six  hundred  and 
four  had  graduated.  Of  these  one  hundred 
and  forty-seven  were  young  men,  and  four 
144 


Schoolmaster  Becomes  a  Preceptor 

hundred  and  fifty-seven  young  women. 
Nearly  all  the  young  men  completed  a  col- 
legiate course  of  study.  A  very  large  pro- 
portion of  the  women,  after  teaching  a 
while,  were  married,  and  many  others  have 
occupied  important  positions  in  the  school 
and  in  the  family.  The  summary  enrolment 
in  all  my  public  and  private  schools,  during 
these  forty  years,was  more  than  five  thousand. 

While  still  connected  with  Tilden  Semi- 
nary, its  twenty-fifth  anniversary  was  cele- 
brated, with  great  interest  and  enthusiasm, 
by  a  large  gathering  of  former  students, 
teachers,  and  other  friends  of  the  institution. 
The  principal  delivered  the  address  of  wel- 
come, which  was  followed  by  addresses  of 
great  interest,  delivered  by  Hon.  Richard 
B.  Kimball,  LL.D.,  the  distinguished 
author,  and  the  late  ex-Senator  J.  W. 
Patterson  of  New  Hampshire. 

Two  facts  may  properly  be  mentioned 
here  in  regard  to  the  academic  institutions 
over  which  I  presided.  First,  not  one  of 
them  was  endowed,  they  were  all  either 
new  schools,  or  in  a  low  condition  in  conse- 
quence of  neglect  or  unskilful  management. 
10  145 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

Secondly,  a  very  large  majority  of  the 
students  attending  these  schools  were  in 
moderate  circumstances,  and  many  were 
absolutely  unable  to  prosecute  their  studies 
without  aid.  Scores  of  the  latter  class  came 
to  me  for  help  ;  and  I  adopted  the  rule  never 
to  reject  an  applicant  of  approved  character, 
ability,  and  promise  on  account  of  poverty. 
Some  needed  only  partial  assistance ;  others 
I  carried  through,  providing  board  and 
tuition,  and  sometimes  books  and  stationery 
also,  entirely  on  trust.  Such  bills  in  the 
aggregate  amounted  to  thousands  of  dollars. 
Many  of  those  who  contracted  such  debts 
made  payment  in  full  years  afterwards ; 
others  failed  to  do  so  for  reasons  beyond 
their  control ;  and  a  very  few  proved  false 
and  unworthy  of  the  confidence  I  had 
placed  in  them.  My  experience  in  dealing 
with  this  class  of  students  led  me  to  believe 
that  young  women  who  have  the  ambition, 
ability,  and  energy  to  prosecute,  with  suc- 
cess, a  course  of  study,  but  have  not  the 
ready  money  to  pay  expenses,  are  quite  as 
reliable  and  worthy  of  trust  as  young  men 
in  similar  circumstances. 
146 


VI 

VITAL    EDUCATIONAL    QUESTIONS 

DURING  my  long  experience  as  a 
teacher,  many  young  men  and  women 
have  asked  my  advice  and  opinion  on  vari- 
ous subjects  which  have  a  direct  bearing  on 
educational  training.  I  therefore  digress 
for  the  time  from  the  autobiographical  nar- 
rative, hoping  that  these  suggestions  will 
be  of  value  to  those  following  in  my  foot- 
steps, as  they  are  the  result  of  a  long 
tuition  under  that  sternest  of  masters, 
"  experience." 

ELEMENTS  OF  SUCCESS  IN  SCHOOL  LIFE 

I  MAY  here  inquire  what  are  the  elements 
necessary  for  the  success  of  the  pupil  and 
student,  of*  the  schoolmaster  and  of  the  pre- 
ceptor, in  their  several  spheres  of  action  ? 
The  success  of  the  scholar  depends  not  so 
much  upon  what  others  do  for  him  as  upon 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

what  he  does  for  himself;  not  so  much 
upon  favorable  opportunities  and  increased 
facilities,  as  upon  the  proper  use  of  such  as 
he  already  enjoys.  A  good  school,  with 
skilful  teachers  and  a  large  library,  are  use- 
ful and  important ;  but  they  have  no  power 
to  impart  scholarship  and  to  create  man- 
hood and  womanhood. 

The  mental  athlete  is  the  product  of 
mental  gymnastics.  The  ability  to  think, 
reason,  and  debate  is  acquired  only  by 
thinking,  reasoning,  and  debating.  Knowl- 
edge is  not  the  chief  aim  or  end  of  study, 
but  mental  discipline  and  culture.  To  solve 
a  hard  problem  or  to  translate  a  difficult 
Latin  or  Greek  sentence,  is  valuable  mainly 
as  a  mental  victory ;  and  often  a  failure  to 
learn  or  recite  a  lesson  is  of  more  value  to 
the  student  than  success,  as  it  may  have 
cost  him  a  greater  effort.  He  who  has 
gained  the  mastery  over  his  own  mental 
faculties,  and  the  power  of  fixed  attention 
and  continued  study  upon  the  subject 
under  investigation,  is  educated ;  and  the 
only  condition  of  such  an  attainment  is 
hard  and  persistent  application. 
148 


Vital  Educational  Questions 

The  success  of  the  schoolmaster  de- 
pends upon  common  sense,  skill,  and  an 
earnest  devotion  to  the  work  in  hand.  I 
have  made  a  distinction  in  this  treatise 
between  the  schoolmaster  and  the  pre- 
ceptor; have  confined  the  schoolmaster  to 
the  public  school,  large  or  small,  as  the 
case  may  be,  in  which  he  has  to  teach  and 
govern  a  promiscuous  group  of  children 
and  youth  of  different  ages,  dispositions, 
and  conditions  in  life,  and  at  the  same 
time  deal  with  a  whole  neighborhood  of 
fathers  and  mothers,  uncles  and  aunts, 
grandfathers  and  grandmothers,  some  of 
whom  are  likely  to  claim  the  right  to 
advise  and  dictate  and  criticise  at  every 
point  of  his  experience.  Common  sense, 
which  is  the  most  uncommon  of  all  human 
endowments,  is  indispensable  for  such  a 
task.  This  alone  will  enable  him  to  adapt 
himself  to  circumstances,  and  always  to  say 
and  do  the  right  thing  at  the  proper  time 
and  in  the  best  manner.  The  teacher  who 
is  destitute  of  this  attribute  is  like  a  ship 
without  an  anchor.  He  may  sail  on  suc- 
cessfully in  fair  weather,  but  when  the 
149 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

storm  rages  he  is  at  the  mercy  of  the 
waves. 

Both  common  sense  and  skill  are  natural 
gifts,  and  the  candidate  who  is  destitute  of 
one  or  both  had  better  seek  some  other 
employment  than  school-keeping.  Earnest 
devotion  to  his  work  is  another  prerequi- 
site to  success.  The  schoolmaster  should 
understand  that  his  school  duties  should 
occupy  all  his  time  and  thought,  and 
engage  all  his  strength  and  energy.  The 
man  or  woman  who  keeps  school  with  a 
divided  interest  has  no  right  to  undertake 
a  work  so  important. 

The  preceptor  holds  a  different  position 
in  some  respects,  hence  he  must  possess 
some  additonal  qualifications.  He  is  re- 
quired not  only  to  keep  school  and  deal 
with  his  patrons,  but  in  many  of  our 
academies  and  seminaries  he  has  to  create 
his  school,  each  term  and  year  of  his  ad- 
ministration. These  institutions  depend 
upon  public  patronage  for  a  supply  of 
students,  and  must  rely  upon  the  popu- 
larity and  personal  efforts  of  the  principal. 
Hence  he  must  possess  not  only  ability  to 
150 


Vital  Educational  Questions 

teach  and  govern,  but  the  power  to  win 
public  favor  and  draw  in  students  from 
towns  near  and  far  away,  over  a  large  terri- 
tory, and  to  contend  with  persistent  com- 
petition. His  school  must  gain  public 
favor  through  his  own  personality  and  wise 
activity.  If  he  cannot  attract  public  atten- 
tion and  gain  public  favor,  he  will  fail, 
though  he  may  be  an  able  teacher  and 
disciplinarian.  The  power  to  twill  and 
hold  public  favor  is  also  a  natural  gift, 
and  must  be  possessed  in  addition  to  the 
other  qualifications  of  the  schoolmaster  as 
described  above.  After  all,  the  most  im- 
portant word  in  the  teacher's  vocabulary  is 
enthusiasm.  From  the  gleanings  of  my 
school-life  experience,  I  here  offer  the 
young  teacher  the  following  :  — 

PEDAGOGIC  TRUTHS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

"  THE  teacher  is  born  and  not  made," 
but  the  "  born  teacher "  must  be  educa- 
ted. 

"As  the  teacher  is,  so  is  the  school." 
The  school  is  an  expansion  of  the  family, 
and  the  teacher  acts  in  loco  parentis. 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

That  the  teacher  should  be  a  noble  man 
or  woman  is  of  great  importance. 

Every  teacher  should  be  professionally 
educated,  and  should  improve  every  oppor- 
tunity for  self-culture  while  in  service. 

All  digested  knowledge  is  helpful  to  the 
teacher. 

The  teacher  must  enjoy  the  schoolroom, 
to  be  successful  in  it. 

The  physiology  and  psychology  of  the 
educational  problem  are  absolutely  essen- 
tial. 

The  teacher  needs  a  courage  that  never 
fails,  and  a  faith  that  never  falters. 

The  teacher  should  never  fret  nor  scold 
in  the  presence  of  his  pupils. 

A  skilful  teacher  is  more  important  for 
the  school  than  approved  methods. 

The  good  teacher  is  a  character-builder. 

Example  is  more  effective  than  teaching. 

The  teacher's  success  or  failure  is  usu- 
ally settled  the  first  week  of  school. 

The  wise  teacher  encourages  self-respect 
and  self-reliance  in  his  pupils. 

Discipline  is  a  means  and  not  an  end ;  it 
is  a  stimulant  as  well  as  a  restraint. 


Vital  Educational  Questions 

Love  of  thinking  and  skill  of  thought 
work  wonders. 

Industry  is  the  best  remedy  for  disorder 
in  the  schoolroom. 

Ridicule  and  sarcasm  should  never  be 
indulged  in  the  school. 

A  noisy  teacher  makes  a  noisy  school. 

The  eye  is  more  potent  than  the  voice  in 
preserving  order. 

Education  is  neither  a  process  of 
"  pouring  in  "  nor  of  "  drawing  out,"  but 
of  "  training  up." 

Pupils  are  sharp  critics  of  their  teachers, 
and  good  judges  of  their  merits. 

The  school  is  making  the  future  citizens 
of  our  Republic  good  or  bad. 

The  patriotic  teacher  alone  is  qualified 
to  train  our  children  for  citizenship. 

Women  teachers  are  coming  to  the 
front,  and  are  a  great  power  in  our  nation. 

Enthusiasm  in  the  teacher  works  won- 
ders. 

Self-control  is  the  teacher's  great  se- 
curity. 

Independent  thinking  is  an  end  to  be 
sought  in  school-work. 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

Sympathy  is  an  essential  element  in  the 
teacher's  life. 

All  teaching  should  be  practical. 

To  lead  and  feed  the  mind  of  pupils  is 
the  important  mission  of  the  teacher. 

Study  the  peculiarities  and  limitations 
of  your  pupils. 

Teach  subjects  and  not  books. 

Read  professional  books  and  papers. 

Make  free  use  of  a  note-book. 

Do  your  part  toward  making  teaching  a 
profession. 

Don't  quarrel  with  your  school-board. 

Visit  parents  «at  their  homes,  form  an  in- 
timate acquaintance  with  them,  and  invite 
them  to  visit  your  school. 

Keep  politics  out  of  school. 

Be  willing  to  be  advised,  but  unwilling  to 
be  controlled. 

Make  your  school  as  pleasant  and  attrac- 
tive as  possible. 

Encourage  manly  and  ladylike  behavior 
at  all  times  and  everywhere. 

Teach  your  pupils  how  to  use  books, 
and  how  to  study. 

Celebrate  and  draw  lessons  from  national 
holidays.  *54 


Vital  Educational  Questions 

Draw  lessons  from  the  field,  forest,  and 
garden,  and  from  the  starry  heavens. 

Wake  up  the  minds  of  your  pupils. 

Do  nothing  for  the  pupil  that  he  can 
do  for  himself. 

Encourage  pupils  by  praise  where  praise 
is  due. 

Teach  promptness  and  punctuality  by 
example  as  well  as  by  precept. 

Call  the  attention  of  your  pupils  to  buds, 
blossoms,  and  birds,  and  to  the  insect  world. 

Encourage  the  planting  of  trees  around 
the  schoolhouse ;  they  will  live  after  you 
are  gone. 

Consider  home  life  in  dealing  with 
school  life. 

Aim  first  of  all  to  gain  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  your  pupils. 

Discriminate  between  the  act  and  the 
motive  of  your  pupils. 

Be  both  merciful  and  just. 

Say  yes  and  no  with  emphasis,  but 
pleasantly. 

Appeal  to  the  pupil's  nobility. 

Never  threaten  punishment  for  an  un- 
committed act. 

>S5 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

Teach  morality  and  religious  obligation. 

Have  faith  in  your  pupils. 

This  last  suggestion,  like  all  the  rest,  is 
of  great  practical  importance.  In  com- 
menting on  it,  I  wish  to  bring  to  view 
the  skilful  teacher  at  work,  and  quote  an 
example  or  two  to  illustrate. 

The  teacher  I  have  in  mind  wields  a 
power  whose  strength  is  magical.  She  talks 
to  her  pupils  as  if  she  expected  they  desired 
to  do  right,  and  only  needed  to  be  shown  how. 
She  does  expect  it.  The  influence  of  her 
faith  is  felt  by  them,  and  they  are  elevated 
by  it.  If  they  fail,  she  expresses  surprise 
and  sorrow.  A  boy  has  carelessly  written 
out  his  exercise.  His  teacher  proposes  to 
have  him  remain  after  school  to  copy  it, 
not  as  an  arbitrary  and  forced,  but  as  a 
voluntary,  punishment.  She  says  to  him  : 
"  I  think  you  had  better  remain  a  few 
minutes  to-night  and  copy  this  exercise. 
You  probably  did  not  realize  how  carelessly 
you  had  written  it.  This  is  not  up  to  your 
best  effort,  and  you  will  not  be  satisfied  to 
have  it  stand  as  it  is.  Here  is  paper,  pen 
and  ink,  and  I  know  you  will  do  this  for 
156 


Vital  Educational  Questions 

my  sake  and  your  own."  With  a  blush 
of  shame  the  boy  seats  himself  for  his 
voluntary  task. 

Another  case  in  point :  Jim,  a  heedless, 
reckless  lad,  commits  an  offence,  and  is 
called  to  account  for  it.  Jim  meets  his 
confidential  friend  Jake,  and  tells  him 
the  story  of  his  treatment,  as  follows. 
"  Do  yer  know  why  I  did  n't  lie  out 
of  it?  Mebbe  yer '11  think  I  was  all- 
fired  silly,  but  I  jest  could  n't.  My 
teacher  called  me  up  quiet-like  and  said : 
f  Now,  Jim,  I  know  your  faults  and  I  know 
your  virtues.  You  ain't  no  coward,  Jim, 
and  yer  won't  lie  even  if  yer  should  have 
ter  take  a  licken.  Some  boys  will  say  the 
square  thing  when  they  think  they  won't 
git  licked,  and  some  boys  will  tell  the 
square  thing  anyway.  A  fellow  like  you, 
who  could  grab  a  little  kid  out  from  under 
a  runaway  horse  like  you  did  poor  Sammy 
Smithers,  ain't  agoin'  to  be  no  coward  now. 
Whatever  yer  tells  me,  Jim,  I  '11  believe, 
and  there  the  thing  ends,  for  I  won't  ask  no 
one  else!'  Then  I  said,  'Why  don't  yer 
ask  Willie  Perkins,  as  he  ailus  does  what 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

yer  say  ? '  But  she  said  she  'd  believe  me 
as  quick  as  any  feller  in  the  school.  Think 
of  that,  Jake  !  And  then  I  jest  up  and 
told  her,  and  she  said  she  was  awful  sorry 
I  done  it,  for  the  principal  said  he  'd  lick 
the  boy,  and  course  I  'd  have  to  git  licked. 
I  said  '  course,'  and  I  tuck  the  licken.  Feel 
kind  o'  sore  outside,  but  awful  quiet-like 
inside.  I  '11  do  it  again  too.  You  bet  she 's 
right  when  she  says,  '  Jim,  yer  have  yer 
faults  but  yer  ain't  no  coward  ! '  Most  folks 
think  I  'm  a  tough  ;  she  don't.  She  knows 
I  won't  lie,  and  I  won't  lie  never  no  more." 
If  the  teacher  would  control  and  edu- 
cate her  pupils,  build  up  their  character, 
and  fit  them  for  the  duties  and  responsibil- 
ities of  life,  she  must  have  faith  in  them, 
and  treat  them  accordingly. 

THE  COLLEGE  OR  THE  UNIVERSITY — 
WHICH? 

THE  author  has  been  asked  hundreds  of 
times  by  anxious  parents  whether  he  ad- 
vised sending  a  boy  to  college  or  to  a 
university,  and  the  question  is  one  which 
demands  careful  consideration. 
'58 


Vital  Educational  Questions 

The  American  college  is  the  fountain- 
head  of  all  the  educational  institutions  and 
influence  of  the  nation.  The  civilizing  and 
elevating  power  of  the  college  is  felt 
through  the  academies,  seminaries,  public 
and  private  schools  which  are  established 
on  the  hillsides  and  in  the  valleys,  in  every 
State  of  the  Union.  It  is  the  source  of 
them  all. 

Our  fathers  first  planted  the  college,  and 
afterwards  the  public  free  schools.  The 
latter  flowed  from  the  former,  as  streams 
from  a  fountain.  Elevating  influences 
always  descend  from  the  higher  to  the 
lower,  but  never  ascend  from  the  lower  to 
the  higher.  The  profounder  learning  of 
the  college  gives  tone  and  sentiment  to 
the  public  mind,  and  nourishes  and  sustains 
popular  education  among  the  masses. 

The  college  matures  and  develops  the 
science  which  is  learned  in  the  elementary 
and  higher  schools,  and  educates,  directly 
or  indirectly,  all  the  teachers  and  authors 
in  every  department  of  learning. 

To  illustrate :  The  ocean  is  the  source 
of  the  water  supply  of  the  world.  Without 
•159 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

this  fountain,  we  could  have  no  rain,  no 
springs,  no  rills,  no  rivulets,  no  rivers. 
These  supply  our  wants  directly ;  but  all 
the  water  that  falls  from  the  clouds  and 
fills  the  springs  and  flowing  streams  must 
come  first  from  the  ocean.  We  do  not  fill 
our  pitcher  from  the  sea,  but  all  the  water 
we  dip  from  the  spring  comes  from  the 
sea.  Dry  up  the  fountain  and  the  spring 
will  disappear.  So  it  is  with  the  college. 
Close  its  doors,  and  ere  long  the  academies 
and  public  schools  would  be  closed.  In- 
struction would  cease,  and  finally  civiliza- 
tion would  give  place  to  semi-barbarism. 

The  sun  is  the  fountain  and  source  of 
light.  We  might  get  on  with  twilight  and 
moonlight ;  but  blot  out  the  sun  from  the 
heavens,  and  even  these  sources  of  dim 
light  would  be  extinguished,  and  total 
darkness  ensue.  So  with  the  college,  which 
is  the  source  of  intellectual  and  moral  light. 
Destroy  this  luminary,  and  the  darkness  of 
ignorance  and  superstition  would,  in  time, 
cover  the  nation  as  a  dreary  mantle. 

Still  again,  we  are  indebted  to  the  college 
for  all  the  influence  that  emanates  from  the 
160 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

learned  professions.  The  college  creates 
and  sustains  the  profession  of  law,  medi- 
cine, teaching,  and  the  ministry. 

The  university  differs  from  the  college 
in  its  aim  and  scope.  It  may  instruct 
students  whom  it  afterwards  examines  for  a 
degree,  as  in  Germany  and  the  United 
States  ;  it  may  do  little  or  no  teaching,  but 
simply  examine  and  confer  degrees,  as  in 
England. 

The  University  of  Paris  was  the  mother 
of  universities,  the  precursor  and  exemplar 
of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  as  these  institu- 
tions are  of  Harvard  and  Yale.  The  old 
Paris  University  disappeared  in  1808, 
under  the  famous  decree  of  Emperor 
Napoleon,  leaving  all  the  institutions  of 
advanced  learning  in  the  nation  under  one 
name,  —  the  University  of  France  ;  but 
the  University  of  Paris  was  restored  to  its 
former  prestige  in  1896,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  President  of  the  French  Republic. 
The  inauguration  was  attended  by  a  learned 
and  illustrious  audience.  The  addresses 
by  the  President  of  the  University  Council 
and  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  were 
ii  161 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

worthy  of  the  great  occasion ;  they  were 
full  of  enthusiasm,  and  of  special  interest 
to  American  educators. 

These  addresses,  which  President  Oilman 
of  Johns  Hopkins  University  has  made  the 
theme  of  an  able  and  instructive  magazine 
article,  reveal  the  function  of  the  modern 
university.  It  is  not  merely  an  institution 
for  imparting  special  kinds  of  knowledge 
for  professional  purposes,  but  also  for  ad- 
vancing general  knowledge  and  facilitating 
its  acquirement  by  students  whose  aims  are 
purely  scientific. 

The  points  made  in  these  lectures  illus- 
trate the  supreme  advantages  of  the  univer- 
sity. The  result  of  uniting  in  one  body  all 
the  chairs  of  superior  instruction,  with  the 
introduction  of  their  laboratories  thirty 
years  ago,  was  to  make  the  institution 
thoroughly  practical.  The  lectures,  purely 
theoretical  and  mental,  which  were  the 
method  of  imparting  instruction  in  the  old 
university,  are  only  a  memory  in  the  new. 
The  entire  establishment  is  one  immense 
factory,  marvellous  in  its  adaptation  to  the 
diversity  of  scientific  work. 
162 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

The  concentration  in  the  modern  univer- 
sity of  subjects  most  diverse  is  intentionally 
designed  and  adapted  to  give  all  its 
students  opportunity  to  acquire  that  gen- 
eral knowledge  which  makes  a  truly  culti- 
vated man  ready  to  enter  upon  the  study 
of  his  profession  or  the  duties  of  active  life. 
In  this  course  of  study  the  dominant 
thought  is  "  the  unity  of  knowledge,  the 
value  of  ascertained  truth,  and  the  impor- 
tance of  scientific  methods  of  inquiry." 
The  practical  uses  of  knowledge  are  here 
emphasized. 

It  is  of  great  interest  to  mark  the  mar- 
vellous improvements  which  have  been 
made  during  the  last  fifty  years  in  the  pro- 
cess of  evolution,  in  the  oldest  as  well  as  in 
the  youngest  universities,  in  the  old  world 
as  well  as  in  the  new.  President  Oilman, 
while  he  insists  that  American  education 
is  far  behind  European,  that  "  American 
youth  compared  with  those  of  foreign  coun- 
tries have  lost  two  or  three  years  of  time," 
shows  the  progress  which  has  been  made 
in  American  institutions,  and  points  out 
the  remedies  for  our  deficiencies. 
163 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

First,  these  improvements  are  manifest 
from  the  institutional  point  of  view.  "  Dur- 
ing recent  years,"  he  says,  "the  Institu- 
tional has  been  considered  more  than  the 
Industrial  organization.  Administration, 
finance,  architecture,  equipment  have  been 
the  dominant  themes.  It  is  wonderful  to 
survey  the  country  from  Bowdoin  in  the 
far  northeast,  with  its  gem  of  an  art  gallery, 
to  Leland  Stanford  on  the  Pacific  Coast, 
with  its  beautiful  academic  halls ;  from 
Minneapolis  and  Chicago  in  the  upper  Mis- 
sissippi valley,  to  New  Orleans  and  Austin 
(Texas),  and  observe  that  every  strong  in- 
stitution is  growing  stronger  and  richer." 

President  Gilman  claims  that  underlying 
all  our  deficiencies  there  is  the  want  of 
organization  and  correlation.  He  says : 
"  It  is  not  likely  that  American  education 
will  be  satisfactory  to  the  most  thoughtful 
people  until  it  is  far  more  systematic  than 
at  present,  until  the  relations  of  all  grades, 
from  the  kindergartens  to  the  professional 
schools,  are  adjusted  to  one  another  by 
such  a  definite  consensus  as  will  be  bind- 
ing like  a  common  law."  He  looks  to 
:64 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

the  improvements  that  are  in  progress  to 
correct  this  evil.  He  adds  that,  "  A  recent 
writer  for  a  new  German  cyclopaedia  of 
education  states  that  among  nearly  five 
hundred  institutions  in  the  United  States 
which  bear  the  name  of  college  or  uni- 
versity, there  are  nine  entitled  to  rank  with 
those  of  Europe."  He  thinks  no  careful 
American  would  have  made  this  claim  a 
generation  ago.  Mark  here  the  fact 
that  President  Gilman  regards  the  college 
and  not  the  university  as  the  disciplinary 
institution. 

The  distinction  between  the  university 
and  the  college  is  one  which  must  occur  to 
every  parent  who  has  a  son  seeking  for 
a  collegiate  education.  We  have  already 
considered  the  theoretical  features  of  each, 
—  but  how  shall  we  put  these  theories  into 
practical  use  in  selecting  a  seat  of  learning 
for  our  son  ?  In  discussing  this  question, 
let  us  employ  the  word  "  university  "  in 
referring  to  such  institutions  as  Harvard 
or  Yale,  and  "college"  in  speaking  of  the 
smaller  institutions,  such  as  Dartmouth, 
Brown,  Williams,  or  Amherst. 
165 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

The  university  has  a  larger  endowment 
than  the  college,  a  broader  course  of 
study,  a  larger,  and  in  many  cases  an  abler 
faculty,  a  more  complete  library,  and  a 
more  extensive  outfit  in  every  depart- 
ment of  instruction. 

The  university,  because  of  its  larger 
numbers,  offers  a  superior  opportunity  to 
its  students  in  that  development  which 
results  from  a  daily  contact  with  many 
other  students  of  many  varying  characteris- 
tics. In  the  university  our  sons  will  see 
before  them  all  "  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men,"  —  some  rich,  some  poor ;  some  fast, 
some  idle ;  some  as  noble  specimens  of 
manhood  as  the  world  can  produce.  Con- 
cerning each  of  these  classes  they  must 
form  their  own  conclusions,  assimilating 
the  best,  avoiding  the  worst;  and  their 
success  or  their  failure  in  doing  this  will 
determine  their  success  or  their  failure  in 
life.  All  this  is  true  in  the  college,  but  it 
must  be  to  a  lesser  degree.  In  short,  our 
sons  will  gain  a  knowledge  of  manhood 
in  the  university  which  they  could  but 
partially  gain  in  the  college. 
1 66 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

The  university,  because  of  larger  num- 
bers than  in  the  college,  contains  a  greater 
per  cent  of  students  whose  friendships 
and  associations  we  wish  our  sons  to  enjoy. 
These  friendships  have  an  immense  bear- 
ing on  the  position  which  the  students  will 
occupy  during  their  later  life,  and  we  owe 
it  to  them  that  they  be  given  the  best  and 
widest  opportunities  in  forming  friendships. 
Further  than  this,  the  degree  bestowed  by 
the  university  will  give  its  graduates  a 
prestige  which  the  college  degree  cannot 
give,  and  it  is  a  parent's  duty  to  give  his 
son  as  perfect  an  equipment  for  his  life- 
work  as  lies  within  his  power. 

There  is  still  a  third  gain  in  the  influence 
of  the  university  course,  —  that  of  encour- 
aging a  thorough  preliminary  education 
for  those  who  seek  to  enter  the  professions. 
It  aims  first  to  make  men  before  it  offers 
them  to  the  professional  schools,  thus 
placing  these  institutions  above  the  rank 
of  trade  schools. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  college  fills  a 
most  honored  position  in  the  educational 
world.  President  Gilman,  in  the  article  to 
167 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

which  reference  has  already  been  made, 
rejoices  in  "  the  recognition  of  an  important 
distinction  between  the  disciplinary  period 
of  liberal  education  commonly  known  in 
this  country  as  f  the  college,'  and  the  freer 
opportunities  of  more  advanced  culture 
which  belong  to  the  university."  It  is 
here  that  the  keynote  of  the  college  is 
struck,  —  its  greatest  power  is  as  a  dis- 
ciplinary institution. 

In  a  following  chapter  we  have  discussed 
the  requirements  of  the  preparatory  school, 
but  unfortunately  it  is  not  possible  for  all 
those  who  desire  a  collegiate  education  to 
come  under  the  discipline  which  these  lead- 
ing schools  enforce.  Circumstances  are 
often  such  that  without  the  college  higher 
education  must  necessarily  be  abandoned. 
There  is  absolute  need  of  this  individual 
discipline  at  some  educational  period,  and 
unless  this  has  been  received  in  the  pre- 
paratory school,  it  must  be  gained  from  the 
college,  —  the  university  would  not  give 
it.  President  Gilman  urges  the  great  need 
of  this  personal  instruction  and  influence. 
He  says  that  the  experience  of  the  world 
168 


Vital   Educational    Questions 

has  demonstrated  that  while  there  are  mag- 
nificent and  surprising  exceptions  to  the 
rule,  the  average  man  is  greatly  helped  by 
submission,  during  all  his  adolescence,  to 
the  precept,  example,  criticism,  and  sug- 
gestion of  those  who  have,  themselves, 
been  well-trained.  By  such  influences, 
character,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral, 
is  most  likely  to  be  harmoniously  de- 
veloped." It  appears  to  him  that  "  a 
liberal  education  would  be  much  more 
highly  valued,  and  would  be  much  more 
advantageous  to  the  world,  if  a  greater 
amount  of  personal  submission  attended 
its  progress."  He  quotes  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson's  criticism  on  this  point.  "  In- 
dividuality, reads  the  sign-post,"  said 
Emerson ;  "  persons  by  themselves,  not 
persons  enrolled  in  classes.  Our  actual 
mode  of  procedure  aims  to  do  for  masses 
what  cannot  be  done  for  masses,  what  must 
be  done  reverently  one  by  one." 

The  many  opportunities  now  offered  by 
the  university  to  needy  students  to  assist 
themselves,  in  addition  to  the  liberal  be- 
stowal of  scholarships,  are  well  shown  by 
169 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

the  phamphlets  issued  by  Harvard  and 
Yale,  and  thus  one  of  the  greatest  obsta- 
cles to  a  university  education  is  removed. 
Undoubtedly  the  expense  is  greater,  but 
the  difference  is  at  least  equalled  by  the 
additional  opportunities.  It  has  practically 
been  demonstrated  that  the  mere  fact  that 
the  student  has  not  the  available  money 
in  sight  need  not  deter  him  from  taking 
the  course. 

The  immensity  of  the  university,  the 
apparent  merging  of  individuality  into  the 
great  mass  of  the  student  world,  the  addi- 
tional temptations  because  of  the  lack  of 
personal  contact  with  the  professors,  and  a 
thousand  and  one  other  doubts,  tend  to 
outbalance,  in  many  cases,  the  manifest 
advantages.  The  parent,  however,  must 
not  make  the  mistake  of  thinking  that  by 
restricting  his  son's  environment  he  is 
preparing  him  to  hold  his  own  in  the 
world,  with  which  he  is  bound  to  come 
in  contact  only  a  few  years  later.  The 
innate  qualities  of  the  boy  will  come  to 
the  surface  sooner  or  latter,  whether  they 
be  good  or  bad,  and  if  the  latter  predom- 
170 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

inate,  they  will  be  quite  as  apparent  in  the 
college  as  in  the  university. 

To  sum  up  the  question,  I  would  say 
that  it  all  depends  upon  the  boy  and  the 
previous  education  he  has  been  able  to 
obtain.  If  he  has  lost  the  development 
to  be  gained  by  the  individual  and  recitation 
work  of  an  ample  preparation,  the  college 
is  the  better  place  for  him ;  if  he  has 
already  had  this  experience,  give  him  the 
greater  opportunity  for  the  all-around  de- 
velopment which  the  university  offers. 

PREPARATION  FOR  COLLEGE  AND  LIFE 
/.   The  Duty  of  the  Home 

IT  is  a  natural  question  on  whom  the 
greatest  responsibility  falls  in  the  prep- 
aration of  pupils  for  college  and  for  life. 
Let  us  glance  first  at  the  responsibility 
which  falls  upon  the  home. 

The  school  and  the  college  are  an  ex- 
pansion of  the  family.  The  parent  in  the 
home  is  the  Heaven-ordained  disciplinarian 
of  his  children.  The  master  in  the  school 
and  the  president  in  the  college  act  under 
171 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

delegated  authority,  in  loco  parentis.  Gov- 
ernment in  all  these  relations  is  based 
upon  the  same  principle,  modified  in  ad- 
ministration only  by  the  varying  circum- 
stances of  the  situation.  If  all  the  families 
in  the  States  were  properly  trained,  we 
would  have  a  right  to  infer  that  the  chil- 
dren in  the  schools  and  the  students  in  the 
academy,  college,  and  university  would 
be  law-abiding  and  loyal  to  the  authority 
under  which  they  are  placed.  Hence 
when  we  meet  with  disorder  and  insubor- 
dination in  the  public  schools,  we  naturally 
attribute  the  evil  to  laxity  of  family  disci- 
pline. And  when  we  hear  of  rioting  and 
rebellion  in  the  academy  or  college,  as  we 
so  often  do  in  these  days,  we  say  that  the 
reckless  and  rebellious  students  were  not 
properly  governed  in  the  home  and  in  the 
school;  and  for  the  same  reason  we  infer 
that  the  unsubdued  children,  pupils  and 
students,  are  likely  to  become  lawless 
citizens  and  candidates,  in  every  commu- 
nity, for  the  prison  and  the  gallows. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  spirit  of  law- 
lessness  and   insubordination  prevails  now 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

more  extensively  and  alarmingly  in  our 
public  institutions  than  in  the  earlier  period 
of  our  country's  history ;  and  it  is  equally 
true,  that  a  great  change  has  occurred  in 
the  theory  and  practice  of  family  and 
school  government.  The  discipline  of  our 
fathers  and  the  teachers  of  their  day  was 
based  upon  authority  ;  obedience  to  whole- 
some rules  and  regulations  was  demanded 
and  enforced ;  but  in  many  cases,  in  these 
days,  persuasion  is  substituted  for  authority, 
and  all  power  to  control  has  been  lost 
in  family  government.  Hence  when  these 
children  come  into  the  school,  the  teacher, 
even  if  he  is  qualified  and  disposed  to 
enforce  unqualified  obedience,  is  forbidden 
to  do  so  by  school  officers,  except  by  moral 
means. 

Now  the  question  is,  —  Is  there  any  con- 
nection between  these  two  facts,  as  cause 
and  effect?  May  not  this  be  the  reason 
why  some  children  become  insubordinate 
pupils  in  the  school,  reckless  students  in 
the  college,  and  lawless  citizens  in  the 
community  ? 

Professor  Albion  W.  Small  of  the  Uni- 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

versity  of  Chicago,  in  a  recent  discussion 
at  the  meeting  of  the  National  Educational 
Association  at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  ex- 
pressed forcibly  his  views  upon  this  point. 
"  I  take  square  issue,"  he  said,  "  upon  the 
question  of  enforcing  wholesome  laws  in 
our  schools.  It  is  a  mistaken  policy, 
adopted  by  our  school  authorities,  to  leave 
to  pupils  themselves  to  fix  the  standard 
of  their  own  conduct;  to  allow  them  to 
decide  that  only  to  be  right  to  which  they 
consent,  and  that  only  to  be  positively 
binding  upon  them  to  which  they  agree. 
Many  schools  have  surrendered  to  unwise 
parents  who  have  previously  capitulated 
to  their  children.  The  abolition  of  cor- 
poral punishment  is  an  incident  in  this 
surrender.  This  is  virtual  treason  against 
the  sovereignty  of  law.  They  tell  us  that 
it  cultivates  self-respect  and  self-control  in 
pupils  when  school  authorities  shirk  the 
duty  of  requiring  propriety  of  conduct  on 
pain  of  effective  penalties.  This  flimsy 
claim  springs  either  from  ignorance  or 
stupid  sympathy,  or  it  is  a  part  and  parcel 
of  the  cringing  subserviency  which  has 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

made  much  of  our  self-government  a  stench 
at  home  and  a  byword  abroad.  The 
schools  should  make  patriots,  but  by  this 
policy  they  are  doing  much  to  make  an- 
archists. This  anarchism  is  inculcated  by 
family  and  school  government  which  stops 
short  of  compulsion  in  dealing  with  chil- 
dren before  they  have  developed  the  habit 
of  effective  morality." 

Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  of  Brooklyn,  New 
York,  in  a  lecture  on  Education  before  the 
same  body,  fully  indorsed  Professor  Small's 
theory.  He  said  :  "In  order  to  educate  the 
people  for  self-government,  there  must  be 
lodged  somewhere  in  the  public  school  the 
power  to  enforce  law,  and  compel  the  lawless 
and  recalcitrant  to  obey  the  law;  for  one 
who  has  not  learned  to  obey  the  law  has 
not  learned  to  exercise  government." 

//.   The  Duty  of  the  Preparatory 
School 

THE  endowed  academy  still  survives,  and 
will  hold  through  all  time  an  important 
place  among  our  institutions  of  learning. 
The  high  school  cannot,  in  all  respects,  fill 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

the  place  of  the  academy,  but  it  is  rapidly 
approaching  it  in  efficiency.  As  a  fitting 
school  for  college,  no  other  can  equal  this 
well-endowed,  well-furnished,  and  profes- 
sionally taught  classical  school.  It  does 
more  than  any  other  can  do  to  awaken  the 
mind,  to  inspire  young  men  and  women 
with  lofty  ambition,  and  to  cultivate  a  taste 
for  classical  learning  and  for  broad  and 
extensive  culture.  It  encourages  social 
relations,  the  most  favorable  for  securing 
the  best  results  of  a  practical  education. 
The  modern  academy  is  distinguished  from 
the  ancient  only  by  the  greater  and  better 
facilities  it  affords,  and  by  its  improved 
methods  of  instruction. 

Upon  the  efficiency  of  these  secondary 
schools  depends  the  standing  and  success 
of  the  college  and  the  university,  and  of 
the  classes  which  graduate  from  these  insti- 
tutions in  their  life  work.  Both  the  acad- 
emy and  the  college  have  manifestly  made 
great  progress  during  the  last  half  century. 
They  have  become  more  thorough  and 
more  practical,  and  the  better  class  have 
raised  their  standard  of  requirements  for 
176 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

admission  and  graduation ;  have  extended 
their  curriculum,  and  increased  their  corps 
of  instructors.  It  has  been  stated  that 
there  are  probably  a  hundred  seats  of  learn- 
ing in  the  United  States,  to-day,  better 
provided  with  material  aids  to  education 
than  Harvard  or  Yale  were  fifty  years  ago. 
But  these  universities  still  hold  their  ad- 
vanced position,  and  are  constantly  demand- 
ing of  the  preparatory  schools,  which  are 
their  principal  feeders,  better  and  still  better 
preparation  for  entrance.  The  leading  col- 
leges, such  as  Dartmouth,  Brown,  Amherst, 
and  Williams,  have  also  raised  their  stand- 
ard and  require  a  corresponding  advance  in 
the  preparatory  schools  which  supply  them 
with  students.  For  ten  years,  from  1790 
to  1800,  Dartmouth  led  Harvard,  Yale,  and 
Princeton  in  the  number  of  graduates,  but 
was  unable  to  keep  up  successful  com- 
petition for  the  want  of  funds  and  perhaps 
other  reasons. 

Much  excitement  has  recently  been  pro- 
duced by  the  demand  of  Harvard  upon  her 
preparatory  schools  for    a   better   prepara- 
tion   of  their   graduates    in    the    English 
12  i77 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

language.  Some  of  the  masters  of  these 
schools  resented  the  charge  that  they  had 
not  given  sufficient  attention  to  the  study 
of  our  language,  which  led  to  a  spirited 
discussion  through  the  press  and  in 
teachers'  conventions.  But  the  facts  show- 
ing the  deficiency  in  students  who  had 
entered  the  university  demonstrated  the 
justice  and  importance  of  the  criticism. 
It  is  a  hopeful  indication  that  our  educators 
are  giving  attention  to  this  subject.  There 
is  no  reason  why  the  English  language 
should  not  be  studied  with  as  much  care 
and  thoroughness  as  the  classics  or  the 
modern  languages.  Indeed,  it  is  reasonable 
to  claim  that  for  English  students  a  com- 
plete and  practical  knowledge  of  "  our 
mother  tongue  "  should  be  regarded  as  of 
the  first  importance.  It  is  a  lamentable 
fact  that  many  students  and  graduates  of 
our  colleges  and  universities  are  unable  to 
speak  and  write  the  English  language 
correctly  and  skilfully. 

There  is  another  point  of  great  importance, 
especially  to  those  who  design  to  enter  the 
university.     The  disciplinary  period  of   a 
178 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

liberal  education  is  an  indispensable  process 
in  development.  Study  and  recitation  are 
the  means  by  which  all  practical  attainments 
are  secured,  and  the  recitation  is,  at  least, 
as  important  as  the  study.  Hence  the 
class  drill,  during  the  disciplinary  process, 
cannot  be  omitted  without  serious  loss. 
The  student  should  not  only  learn  his  les- 
son, but  he  should  recite  it  under  criticism. 

All  practical  lessons  in  life  are  learned 
by  recitation.  The  child  learns  to  walk 
and  talk  by  walking  and  talking ;  the  me- 
chanic learns  to  use  his  tools  by  using 
them  ;  the  musician  learns  to  sing  and  play 
on  the  instrument ;  and  the  orator  to  sway 
his  audience  by  constant  and  long-con- 
tinued practice.  The  art  of  easy  and 
graceful  conversation  and  correct  composi- 
tion is  acquired  only  by  conversing  and 
composing.  All  these  are  recitations. 
Thus  no  lesson  is  thoroughly  learned  until 
the  thought  contained  therein  has  been 
intelligently  expressed  in  recitation. 

Now  this  disciplinary  work  belongs  prop- 
erly to  the  preparatory  school,  and  if  it  is 
not  secured  there  the  student  is  not  fitted 
179 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

to  enter  the  university,  to  gain  the  finish- 
ing culture  of  a  complete  liberal  education. 
Thus  the  modern  preparatory  school  holds 
an  important  position  in  our  educational 
system,  and  the  college  and  the  university 
have  the  right  to  expect  and  demand 
thorough  preparatory  work,  and  in  this 
way  only  can  they  secure  it. 

THE  MORAL  SIDE  OF  SCHOOL  LIFE 
THE  moral  side  of  school  life  should  be 
especially  emphasized  as  an  essential  part 
of  education.  In  my  forty  years'  practice 
I  have  endeavored  to  make  this  thought 
prominent.  In  my  books  previously  writ- 
ten, I  have  strongly  urged  its  claims  upon 
teachers  and  parents,  and  through  all  my 
school  life  the  conviction  has  grown  upon 
me  that  the  chief  end  of  all  education  is  to 
produce  men  and  women  morally  trained 
for  their  life  work.  Physical  culture  is 
essential,  but  this  alone  may  only  fit  the  man 
for  a  prize-fighter,  and  make  him  a  brute  in 
human  form.  "  Intellectual  culture  with- 
out the  moral,"  some  one  has  said,  "  only 
prepares  the  madman  for  suicide ; "  while 
1 80 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

the  proper  training  of  the  whole  man,  physi- 
cally, intellectually,  and  morally,  gives  him 
strength,  power,  and  integrity,  with  ability 
to  act  well  his  part  in  whatever  position  in 
life  he  is  called  to  labor. 

Scholarship  is  desirable  as  a  result  of 
school  training,  but  its  attainment  is  in  no 
way  hindered,  but  rather  facilitated,  by 
proper  attention  to  moral  culture.  The 
true  teacher  is  not  only  a  scholar  maker, 
but  also  a  character  builder. 

In  reviewing  his  school  life  the  author 
has  cumulative  evidence  of  the  correctness 
of  his  theory  and  the  importance  of  his 
practice.  The  children  and  students  under 
his  instruction  fifty  years  ago  are  now  fill- 
ing, or  have  filled,  important  and  respon- 
sible positions  in  active  life :  in  the  family 
as  parents,  training  another  generation  of 
children  for  life's  duties  and  for  immortal- 
ity ;  in  the  school  as  teachers,  shaping  the 
course  and  moulding  the  character  of  aspir- 
ing youth  who  are  ere  long  to  take  their 
places ;  in  the  college,  as  presidents  and 
professors,  guiding  young  men  and  women 
who  are  to  enter  the  learned  professions ; 
181 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

in  every  community  all  over  the  nation,  as 
citizens  of  this  great  Republic,  conducting 
the  important  affairs  of  State  and  Church, 
and  discharging  the  duties  of  social  life  ;  in 
the  professions,  exerting  a  controlling  in- 
fluence in  public  affairs;  in  the  halls  of 
legislation,  and  on  the  bench  of  justice, 
making  and  administering  laws  that  con- 
trol seventy  millions  of  people  and  affect 
the  weal  or  woe  of  the  nation. 

Now  what  have  given  these  thousands 
of  men  and  women  the  power  they  have 
gained  and  exercised?  I  answer,  the 
manly  and  womanly  character  which  was 
formed  under  the  moral  influence  and  in- 
struction exerted  and  given  in  the  homes 
and  schools  of  their  childhood  and  youth. 
If  any  have  failed,  it  was  for  the  want  of 
this  important  training. 

The  moral  includes  the  religious  but  not 
the  sectarian  teaching  in  schools.  It  is  not 
the  parochial  teaching  of  dogmatic  theology, 
nor  the  careless  reading  of  the  Bible  in  our 
public  schools,  that  is  so  much  needed. 
It  is,  first  of  all,  the  influence  of  the  living 
teacher  whose  life  has  been  consecrated  to 
182 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

the  service  of  God  and  mankind,  whose 
soul  is  aglow  with  enthusiasm,  who  is  in 
love  with  his  work  and  feels  the  responsi- 
bility of  his  position. 

The  example  of  such  a  teacher  has  great 
moral  power  over  his  pupils.  It  uncon- 
sciously encourages  the  right  and  discour- 
ages the  wrong  in  their  daily  lives,  and 
moulds  them  into  likeness.  Such  a  teacher 
has  the  moral  wants  of  his  pupils  constantly 
in  view,  and  seeks  and  improves  every 
opportunity  to  impart  moral  lessons.  In- 
cidents occurring  every  day  involve  moral 
principles.  He  seizes  upon  them  as  texts 
for  moral  lessons,  and  enforces  them  by 
the  examples  before  him. 

For  instance,  in  dealing  with  school 
vices,  the  teacher  has  detected  a  pupil  in 
falsehood.  This  is  his  opportunity  to  give 
a  practical  lecture  before  the  whole  school 
upon  the  cowardice,  folly,  and  sin  of  lying. 
Another  pupil  is  suspected  of  stealing,  but 
it  is  not  positive  that  he  is  the  guilty  party. 
The  master  brings  the  matter  before  the 
school,  explains  the  nature  and  conse- 
quences of  such  an  act  upon  the  present 
183 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

and  future  of  the  pupil's  life,  and  suggests, 
if  the  boy  has  repented  and  made  restitu- 
tion, that  he  may  not  be  reported  to  the 
school,  but  that  the  praiseworthiness  of  his 
repentence  and  confession  may  be  commen- 
ded and  emphasized.  Profane  language  has 
been  overheard  on  the  playground.  The 
master  now  speaks  to  the  school  upon  the 
low  vulgarity  of  profanity.  He  is  called 
upon  to  settle  a  quarrel  in  which  the 
strong  has  abused  the  weaker  party,  and 
he  gives  the  school  a  practical  lesson  on 
individual  rights  and  the  manliness  of 
generosity  and  kindness.  He  reads  in  the 
newspaper  an  account  of  one  who  res- 
cued a  fellow-student  from  drowning,  at 
the  risk  of  his  own  life.  Here  is  a 
text  for  an  effective  lesson  on  heroism. 
Washington's  and  Lincoln's  birthdays 
occur,  and  are  improved  to  impart  lessons 
of  patriotism.  Thousands  of  cases  like 
these,  gathered  from  real  life  or  from  the 
school  lessons  of  the  day,  give  the  teacher 
the  opportunity  to  impart  the  great  lessons 
of  morality  and  to  teach  the  duties  the 
individual  owes  to  God  and  his  fellows. 
184 


Vital    Educational    Questions 

The  great  need  of  emphasis  upon  this 
subject  is  seen  not  only  in  the  alarming 
prevalence  of  vice  and  crime  among  the 
lower  classes,  but  also  in  the  fraud,  em- 
bezzlement, and  treachery  practised  in  busi- 
ness transactions,  and  the  demagogism  and 
falsehood  in  political  life.  This  is  a  matter 
of  vital  importance  to  the  public  weal,  and 
should  awaken  the  interest  and  secure  the 
co-operation  of  parents,  citizens,  and  school 
officers  to  provide  all  necessary  facilities  for 
the  training  of  teachers,  and  to  see  to  it  that 
none  but  those  who  are  qualified  for  the 
responsible  position  shall  be  allowed  to 
assume  its  duties. 


185 


VII 

OTHER   EDUCATIONAL   WORK 

ALL  grades  of  schools  and  educa- 
tional institutions  are  inseparably 
connected.  Each  is  a  vital  organ  of  the 
same  body.  Hence  the  teacher  who  is 
engaged  in  any  department  of  school  work 
should  be  interested  in  all  departments.  If 
he  is  wise  and  in  earnest  he  ought  to  be  too 
large  a  man  to  confine  himself  to  the  one 
institution  over  which  he  presides.  The 
president  of  a  college  or  the  preceptor  of  an 
academy  or  seminary  can  do  much  in  various 
ways  to  encourage  laborers  in  other  fields, 
and  to  aid  in  promoting  the  common  cause. 
Taking  this  view  of  the  subject  and  acting 
on  this  principle,  while  at  the  head  of  Thet- 
ford  Academy,  I  encouraged  educational 
meetings  in  town,  county,  and  State,  to 
awaken  an  interest  in  the  public  mind  in 
behalf  of  the  public  schools,  which  were  in 
a  deplorable  condition.  I  had  the  honor  of 
186 


Other    Educational    Work 

leading  in  the  organization  of  the  State 
Teachers'  Association  in  Vermont,  which 
has  held  its  annual  meetings  and  been  an 
increasing  power  for  good  in  the  State  for 
more  than  fifty  years,  and  is  to-day  one  of 
the  most  efficient  organizations  of  its  kind 
in  the  nation. 

At  North  Granville  Seminary  I  took 
charge  of  a  second-grade  school  for  boys 
in  the  same  village  with  my  own  school, 
and  conducted  normal  classes  of  young 
ladies,  under  the  Regents  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  for  the  better  training  of  teach- 
ers of  the  public  schools. 

At  Glenwood  Seminary  I  accepted  the 
position  of  superintendent  of  the  public 
schools  of  Brattleboro,  and  held  the  office 
for  two  years;  and  later  I  held  the  same 
office  in  Lebanon,  New  Hampshire,  for  the 
same  length  of  time.  While  at  Glenwood  I 
was  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  "  Vermont 
School  Journal"  for  four  years,  published 
for  the  aid  and  encouragement  of  the 
teachers  in  the  public  schools  of  the  State. 
Educational  literature  was  scarce  in  those 
days. 

187 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

At  Tilden  Seminary,  while  a  member  of 
the  Legislature  from  the  town  of  Lebanon, 
I  introduced  and  carried  through  three  bills 
in  the  interest  of  education,  in  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire,  viz.,  the  bill  requiring  com- 
pulsory attendance  in  the  public  schools, 
the  bill  changing  the  district  to  the  town 
system,  and  the  bill  establishing  the  State 
Normal  School  at  Plymouth ;  and  for  six 
years  I  was  supervisor  or  trustee  of  that 
institution. 

During  the  forty  years  of  my  school  life 
it  was  my  constant  aim  to  gather  up  the 
results  of  experience  and  study  and  publish 
the  same  for  the  benefit  of  others  who  might 
follow  in  my  path.  I  first  published  "  The 
Class  Book  of  Prose  and  Poetry "  with 
analytical  tables,  to  be  used  as  a  text-book 
in  parsing ;  next  followed  "  The  Teachers' 
Manual,"  devoted  largely  to  the  discipline 
of  the  school,  taken  in  its  broadest  sense ; 
"  Home  and  School  Training,"  showing  the 
vital  connection  between  the  family  and 
the  school,  and  pointing  out  and  urging  the 
mutual  and  important  duties  of  parents  and 
teachers  in  their  relations  to  each  other  and 
1 88 


Other    Educational    Work 

to  their  schools  ;  "  School  Keeping :  How 
To  Do  It,"  prepared  for  young  teachers 
and  dealing  with  methods  of  discipline  and 
instruction.  These  books  have  passed 
through  several  editions,  and  some  of  them 
have  been  used  as  text-books  in  academies, 
seminaries,  and  normal  schools,  and  all 
have  been  read  by  thousands  of  practical 
teachers  all  over  the  nation.  Twenty-five 
years  ago,  by  request  of  General  John 
Eaton,  then  at  the  head  of  the  National 
Bureau  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  I  prepared 
a  monograph  on  school  management  for 
publication  by  that  Bureau.  This  and  the 
"  Class  Book  of  Prose  and  Poetry"  have  had 
a  circulation  of  more  than  one  hundred  thou- 
sand copies  each.  Dr.  Harris,  now  at  the 
head  of  the  National  Bureau,  told  me  that 
this  monograph  had  been  in  more  demand 
than  any  pamphlet  the  Bureau  had  ever  pub- 
lished. During  all  these  years  I  have  been 
constantly  writing  on  educational  subjects 
for  the  public  press,  and  frequently  lectur- 
ing before  teachers'  institutes  and  other 
educational  bodies. 

After  forty  years  of  constant  strain  upon 
189 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

one  set  of  nerves  I  began  to  feel  the  need 
of  a  change.  I  did  not  desire  rest  such  as 
results  from  retirement  from  active  life,  but 
simply  a  change  in  the  kind  of  labor  which 
should  require  my  mental  and  physical 
activity.  Still  I  had  no  plans  for  securing 
this  relief,  or  expectations  of  leaving  my 
school  in  the  near  future.  But  in  the 
summer  of  1880  an  earnest  call  came  from 
Boston  urging  me  to  accept  a  position  of 
partner  in  a  well-known  publishing  com- 
pany located  in  that  city.  After  due  con- 
sideration, I  accepted  the  offer,  and  made 
arrangements  to  enter  upon  my  new  work 
late  in  the  autumn. 

This  corporation  was  and  is  devoted 
entirely  to  educational  work.  It  was  not  a 
school,  but  an  educational  publishing  house. 
Hence  the  change  did  not  remove  me  to  a 
mere  business  life,  but  enabled  me  to  con- 
tinue in  the  same  service  in  a  new  field. 
This  was  exactly  what  I  desired.  Our  two 
educational  journals,  one  weekly  and  the 
other  monthly,  our  educational  books  and 
aids  to  teachers,  and  our  Educational 
Bureau,  brought  us  and  has  kept  us  in 
190 


Other    Educational    Work 

constant  touch  with  the  schools  and  teachers 
of  the  whole  nation.  Hence,  this  was  not 
only  a  new,  but  a  more  extended  field  of 
labor  and  usefulness. 

Educational  journalism  is  a  powerful 
agency  in  moulding  and  directing  public 
opinion  in  the  interest  of  public  and  private 
schools  of  every  grade.  It  is  a  guide  and  a 
spring  of  inspiration  to  the  teacher,  super- 
visor, and  superintendent  of  these  schools, 
the  most  reliable  source  of  information  upon 
all  educational  subjects,  and  a  bond  of  union 
between  all  educators  and  educational  organ- 
izations. The  publishing  and  distributing 
among  teachers  and  school  officers  profes- 
sional books  and  monographs  applies  an 
important  added  force,  working  out  the 
same  results,  and  introducing  the  best 
methods  of  school  discipline  and  instruc- 
tion. The  Educational  Bureau  which  this 
company  established,  the  first  and  for  seve- 
ral years  the  only  one  in  New  England,  has 
proved  to  be  an  important  aid,  if  not  an 
indispensable  agency,  in  the  interest  of 
teachers  and  school  officers.  It  has  enabled 

thousands  of  the  one  class  to  secure  desir- 
191 


Reminiscences  of  School  Life 

able  positions,  and  the  other  class  to  provide 
competent  teachers,  adapted  to  the  positions 
which  they  have  to  fill,  at  the  least  expense 
of  time  and  money.  In  the  Bureau  thou- 
sands of  applicants,  for  every  grade  and 
department  of  instruction,  are  registered,  and 
their  record  and  qualifications  are  on  file  for 
examination.  Here  superintendents  and 
other  school  officers  come  to  examine  these 
records  and  to  meet  candidates,  and  are 
thus  enabled  to  make  wise  selections  to 
fill  vacancies. 

There  was  at  first  a  strong  prejudice 
among  school  officers  against  teachers' 
bureaus,  but  their  practical  helpfulness  has 
proved  of  so  great  benefit  to  all  parties 
interested  that  this  hostility  has,  by  degrees, 
worn  away,  until  now  only  a  few  ignorant 
or  bigoted  independents  refuse  to  patronize 
them.  So  great  a  change  has  been  wrought 
in  public  sentiment  on  this  subject  that 
instead  of  a  solitary  agency  in  New  England 
and  one  or  two  in  the  other  States,  as  was 
the  case  twenty  years  ago,  there  are  more 
than  a  "  baker's  dozen "  in  the  city  of 
Boston. 

192 


Other    Educational    Work 

My  active  relations  with  the  management 
of  this  corporation  extended  almost  down  to 
the  present  time,  covering  a  period  of  fifteen 
years.  For  three  years,  since  relinquishing 
my  former  labors  as  a  partner,  I  have  done 
continuous  work  on  the  editorial  staff,  and 
am  still  performing  full  service,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-three  years. 

I  have  thoroughly  enjoyed  my  long  life 
of  service,  under  the  guidance  of  an  All-wise 
Providence,  and  if  I  have  been  able  to  do 
anything  to  aid  and  encourage  the  thou- 
sands of  youth  who  have  come  under  my 
instructions  and  influence,  in  their  efforts  to 
gain  an  education  and  positions  of  honor 
and  usefulness  in  the  world  ;  if  I  have  aided 
them  in  character-building  and  right  living, 
or  have  in  any  way  done  anything  calcu- 
lated to  elevate  the  teachers'  office,  —  I  am 
amply  paid  for  my  service,  and  am  sure 
that  my  laborious  life  has  not  been  a  failure. 
I  am  profoundly  grateful  to  our  Heavenly 
Father,  whose  guiding  hand  directs  all  our 
ways  and  "  whose  mercy  endureth  for  ever." 


'3  193 


DATE  DUE 


miNTEOIN  USA 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  602  075     4 


